THE  GREAT  REBELLION: 


ITS  SECRET  HISTORY,  RISE,  PROGRESS, 
AND  DISASTROUS  FAILURE. 


BY 


JOHN  MINOR  BOTTS,  OF  VIRGINIA. 


$oiftfcal  3Lffe  of  t&e 


my 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

GIFT  OF 

MRS.   MARY  WOLFSOHN 

IN    MEMORY   OF 

HENRY  WOLFSOHN 


THE  GREAT  REBELLION: 


ITS  SECRET  HISTORY,  RISE,  PROGRESS, 
AND  DISASTROUS  FAILURE, 

BY 

JOHN  MINOR  BOTTS,  OF  VIRGINIA. 


$oiftfcal  3Lffe  of  t&e  ^utfjor  Vurtucatetr. 


"  I  know  no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no  West :  I  only  know  my  country,  my 
whole  country,  and  nothing  but  my  country." — JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN      SQUARE. 

1866. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-six,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


TO 

LIEUT.  GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT, 

U.  S.  A., 

This  work  is  respectfully  dedicated,  as  a  mark  of  the  esteem, 
gratitude,  and  affectionate  regard  felt  for  the  Commander  of  the 
Army  of  the  United  States ;  not  only  for  the  deliverance  of  the 
Author,  but  of  his  native  State,  and  the  whole  South,  from  the 
most  oppressive,  grinding,  and  detestable  military  despotism  of 
which  history  furnishes  a  record  since  the  blessings  of  freedom 
have  been  understood,  and  the  true  principles  of  Christianity 
introduced. 


PREFACE. 


IN  presenting  this  work  to  the  public,  I  do  not  invite 
criticism,  but,  of  course,  do  not  expect  it  will  escape 
either  that  of  the  press  or  others.  If  it  is  not  harshly 
and  bitterly  denounced  by  the  Democratic  press,  it  will 
fare  better  than  any  thing  I  have  said,  written,  or  done 
since  my  first  entrance  upon  the  political  stage. 

I  have  been  told  that  there  was  an  art  to  be  studied 
in  writing  a  book,  different  from  all  other  arts  and  all 
other  writings,  without  which  no  one  was  likely  to  be 
successful.  If  this  be  true,  then  this,  my  first  effort  af 
book- writing  for  publication,  must  prove  a  sad  failure, 
for  the  only  art  I  have  studied  has  been  the  art  of  tell 
ing  the  truth  in  a  plain,  simple  style  that  every  readef 
can  readily  comprehend,  and  I  think  there  will  not  be 
found  a  passage  in  the  book  that  it  will  be  necessary  for 
any  child  to  read  twice  to  catch  its  meaning. 

The  chief  merit  I  claim  for  the  work  is  its  strict  fidel 
ity  to  historical  facts,  which  will  be  recognized  by  every 
intelligent  and  impartial  reader  as  he  proceeds.  The 
truth  is,  that  in  this  extraordinary  age  of  rapid  progress, 
one  striking  political  event  succeeds  another  with  such 
remarkable  rapidity  that  the  occurrences  of  yesterday 
are  obliterated  from  the  mind  by  those  of  to-day,  and 
thus  there  is  hardly  one  man  jn  a  million  who  keeps  up 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

a  connected  chain  of  events  in  his  memory,  as  my  posi 
tion  in  public  life  and  other  circumstances  have  enabled 
me  to  do. 

This  Eebellion  is,  in  point  of  fact,  a  key  to  my  whole 
political  life.  There  has  been  no  question  of  public  in 
terest  for  the  last  thirty-five  years  or  more  in  which  I 
have  not  taken  an  active  part ;  while  my  personal  asso 
ciations  with  many  of  the  leading  Democrats  enabled  me 
to  know  much  that  did  not  appear  upon  the  surface  or 
to  the  public,  and  I  had  been  but  a  short  time  in  Con 
gress  before  I  was  satisfied  that  there  was  a  most  active 
and  persevering  party  in  the  South  laboring  with  inde 
fatigable  zeal  to  prepare  the  people  for  an  ultimate  dis 
solution  of  the  Union,  and  against  this  party  and  their 
objects  I  have  been  warring  all  the  time.  I  need  hardly 
say  that  I  have  made  but  few  speeches  for  the  last  twen 
ty-five  years  that  did  not  contain  an  admonition  to  the 
country  on  this  subject;  and  it  wa's  perhaps  owing  to 
this  fact,  more  than  any  other,  that  I  have  been  enabled 
to  keep  constantly  in  mind  so  minute  a  record  of  facts 
as  they  have  occurred. 

This  work  treats  of  a  period  and  of  a  history  that  no 
other  writer,  I  believe,  has  undertaken ;  and  without  ar 
rogance  or  presumption,  I  think  I  may  say  that  I  doubt 
if  there  is  another  person  in  the  country  who  could  write 
it  (without  extraordinary  labor  and  research)  that  would, 
for  those  who  are  most  familiar  with  the  facts  would 
rather  desire  to  cover  up  and  conceal  what  it  has  been 
my  purpose  to  expose  and  lay  bare  before  the  world. 

When  I  made  up  my  mind  to  write  this  history  of  the 
antecedents  of  the  Eebellion,  it  was  with  no  view  to  make 


PREFACE.  IX 

a  dollar  by  the  work:  it  was  to  enlighten  the  public 
mind,  of  the  South  particularly,  as  to  the  great  imposi 
tions  that  had  been  for  a  long  succession  of  years  de 
signedly  practiced  on  their  credulity  by  those  in  whom 
they  had  trusted  as  their  leaders,  with  what  disastrous 
consequences  to  the  fortunes,  the  happiness,  and  lives  of 
every  household,  in  every  gradation  of  life,  all  are  now 
but  too  familiar. 

I  have  often  had  occasion  to  say  that  no  man  alive 
knew  more  of  this  war  than  I  did,  and  if  the  people 
knew  as  much  about  it  as  I  knew,  or  if  I  knew  as  little 
as  they  did,  we  should  probably  all  have  been  together 
in  our  sympathies. 

I  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  blame  any  man  for 
rushing  to  arms  in  defense  of  his  wife  and  his  children, 
his  property,  his  liberty,  and  his  honor,  who  could  be 
lieve  they  were  all  invaded  and  endangered  by  a  gov 
ernment  that  they  had  been  educated  to  look  upon  as 
their  natural  and  constitutional  protector;  and  all  this 
was  whispered  and  hissed  into  their  ears  by  profligate 
politicians,  stupid  and  abandoned  public  presses,  who,  in 
most  cases,  had  not  the  nerve  or  the  will,  when  the  dan 
ger  arrived,  to  fight  for  their  own  wives  and  daughters, 
their  own  property,  their  own  liberty  or  honor,  but  who 
made  every  manner  of  excuse  for  shirking  the  dangers 
and  hardships  of  a  war  of  their  own  creation ;  but  the  re 
sponsibility  they  can  not  escape.  For  such  men  the  En 
glish  language  is  too  poor  to  enable  me  to  express  the 
utter  loathing  and  contempt  I  feel  toward  them. 

Early  in  the  war  I  characterized  it  as  "the  rich  man's 
war  and  the  poor  man's  fight.'1'1  Whether  I  was  right  or 

A  2 


X  PREFACE. 

wrong  in  this,  those  who  did  the  hard  fighting  can  best 
determine. 

One  thing,  at  least,  all  who  read  this  book  can  tell — 
now  that  the  war  is  over  and  the  result  ascertained — 
and  that  is,  whether  I  would  have  been  more  or  less 
worthy  of  their  confidence  and  regard  by  advising  them 
to  go  into  it  or  to  stay  out  of  it ;  and  none  will  hereafter 
be  surprised,  when  they  have  learned  the  true  nature 
and  design  of  the  Eebellion,  that  from  first  to  last  I  re 
solved  that  no  earthly  power  should  induce  me  to  lend 
it  either  my  co-operation,  my  respect,  or  my  sympathy. 

With  these  prefatory  remarks,  this  work  is  respectful 
ly  submitted  to  the  candid  judgment  of  an  enlightened 
country  by  THE  AUTHOR. 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE, 


IT  is  a  well-known  maxim  that "  a  good  cause  makes 
a  stout  heart  and  a  strong  arm,"  and  never  was  the  truth 
of  the  adage  more  strikingly  illustrated  than  in  the  po 
litical  career  of  the  Hon.  John  Minor  Botts,  of  Virginia, 
than  whom  no  man  in  the  United  States  at  this  day 
stands  more  prominent  before  the  people  as  a  consistent 
and  patriotic  advocate  and  supporter  of  "THE  UNION, 

THE    CONSTITUTION,   AND    THE     ENFORCEMENT    OF    THE 
LAWS." 

An  intimate  friend  of  the  illustrious  Henry  Clay,  and 
a  compeer  of  statesmen  and  legislators  during  the  most 
important  political  eras  of  the  last  thirty  years,  the  lead 
ing  actions  of  Mr.  Botts's  life,  and  his  speeches  and  writ 
ings,  form  as  interesting  and  instructive  a  portion  of  the 
story  of  the  progress  of  our  great  Eepublic  from  youth 
to  manhood  as  any  part  of  American  history.  Especial 
ly  interesting,  however,  is  the  record  of  the  manly  and 
fearless  stand  made  by  Mr.  Botts  in  support  of  the  Union 
cause  during  the  inauguration  and  progress  of  the  late 
great  conspiracy  against  the  life  of  the  nation,  the  cul 
mination  of  which  will  ever  form  an  eventful  era  in 
the  world's  history.  His  intimacy  with  the  prominent 
actors  in  the  great  tragedy,  and  the  privilege  which  he 
possessed  of  having  the  entree  behind  the  scenes  in  the 


xii  EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

theatre  of  the  rebellion,  placed  him  in  a  position  "  to  un 
fold  a  tale,"  and  "to  reveal  the  secrets  of  his  prison- 
house,"  which,  if  it  does  not  "harrow  up  the  soul1'  or 
make  "  the  hair  stand  on  end,"  will  assuredly  excite  to 
the  utmost  the  just  indignation  of  every  honest  man  in 
the  country,  and  rouse  up  to  action  every  lover  of  the 
nation  in  the  land. 

The  circumstances  under  which  this  work  was  written 
are  as  follows : 

In  October,  1861,  the  French  consul  in  Eichmond 
applied  to  his  friend,  Mr.  Charles  Palmer,  for  all  the  in 
formation  he  could  furnish  him  upon  the  question  of 
secession  and  the  rebellion,  the  merits  or  demerits  of 
which  he  did  not  understand.  Upon  this  request  be 
ing  made,  Mr.  Palmer  applied  to  Mr.  Botts,  who  he  was 
well  aware  was  far  more  competent  to  enlighten  his 
friend  upon  the  subject  than  himself,  or,  indeed,  any  other 
gentleman  in  the  South.  Thereupon  the  information  de 
sired  was  furnished  in  a  letter,  which  contained,  in  a  con 
cise  form,  the  important  history  constituting  the  basis  of 
the  present  work.  Since  1861,  time  and  circumstances 
have  led  to  an  enlargement  of  the  history,  and  the  views 
it  presents  have  been  enforced  by  additional  arguments, 
and  the  facts  related  substantiated  by  incontrovertible 
testimony. 

Shortly  after  this  letter  was  sent  to  the  French  consul, 
it  became  rumored  about  Eichmond  that  Mr.  Botts  was 
engaged  in  writing  a  secret  history  of  the  rebellion,  and, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  the  Confederate  authorities  were 
soon  trying  to  ferret  out  the  truth  of  the  matter.  For 
some  time  nothing  of  any  importance  in  relation  to  the 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  xiii 

subject  transpired.  On  the  first  day  of  March,  1862, 
however,  the  Confederate  Congress  passed  an  act  sus 
pending  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  and  declaring  mar 
tial  law.  The  next  morning,  which  was  Sunday,  about 
an  hour  before  daybreak,  the  late  General — then  Cap 
tain — Godwyn,  assistant  provost-marshal  under  General 
Winder  (of  Andersonville  memory),  with  a  hundred 
armed  men,  surrounded  Mr.  Botts's  house,  obtained  ad 
mission,  arrested  him  in  bed,  and  carried  him  off  to  a 
filthy  negro  jail,  where  he  was  lodged,  and  kept  in  soli 
tary  confinement  for  eight  weeks,  his  house  and  family 
in  the  mean  time  being  placed  in  custody  of  two  of  Gen 
eral  Winder's  satellites.  After  his  arrest,  his  trunks,  writ 
ing-desk,  and  every  receptacle  for  private  papers  were 
closely  searched,  and  his  private  letters  and  papers  taken 
possession  of  and  carried  to  the  provost-marshal's  office, 
where  they  were  examined.  Mr.  Botts,  knowing  how 
obnoxious  he  had  made  himself  to  the  Confederate  au 
thorities  by  his  bold,  outspoken  hostility  to  the  doctrine 
of  secession,  and  also  to  all  engaged  in  inaugurating  the 
wicked  and  atrocious  rebellion,  had  concluded — as  soon 
as  he  heard  of  martial  law  having  been  declared — that 
he  would  probably  be  among  the  first  victims  of  their 
vengeance,  and  he  had  taken  the  precaution  to  conceal 
the  historical  sketch  in  question  in  a  place  where  the 
rebels  would  not  be  likely  to  find  it,  and  through  the  me 
dium  of  a  friend  it  was  privately  conveyed  to  the  office  of 
one  of  the  foreign  consuls  for  safe  keeping  until  called  for. 
Two  days  after  the  imprisonment  of  Mr.  Botts,  Captain 
Godwyn,  who  was  acting  as  his  jailer,  presented  him 
self  in  his  cell,  and  the  following  conversation  occurred. 


xiv  EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

After  interchanging  the  ordinary  salutations,  Captain 
Godwyn  remarked  to  Mr.  Botts  that  he  thought  they  did 
not  get  hold  of  all  his  papers  in  their  search. 

Mr.  Botts.  Ah !  perhaps  not.  Did  you  miss  any  par 
ticular  paper,  captain,  that  you  had  reason  to  expect  was 
there  ? 

Captain  Godwyn.  Yes,  there  was  one  we  did  not  find 
that  we  were  led  to  believe  was  there. 

Mr.  Botts.  Indeed !  and  what  paper  was  that,  captain? 

Captain  Godwyn.  Well,  I  don't  know  exactly  how  to 
describe  it. 

Mr.  Botts.  I  expect  I  could  tell  you,  captain,  what  it 
was.  Are  you  really  anxious  to  get  possession  of  it  ? 

Captain  Godwyn.  Well,  yes;  I  should  like  to  get  it. 
Where  is  it? 

Mr.  Botts.  Ah !  that  you  must  find  out  for  yourself, 
captain.  You  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  me  at  mid 
night,  and  you  will  have  to  find  that  for  yourself.  But, 
if  you  are  very  anxious  to  get  it,  you  shall  have  it,  but 
only  on  my  terms,  and  upon  none  other  can  you  get  it. 

Captain  Godivyn.  What  are  your  terms  ? 

Mr.  Botts.  My  terms  are  that  you  shall  bring  me  the 
affidavit  of  Jeff.  Davis,  sworn  to  before  Judge  Hali- 
burton,  that,  upon  my  delivery  of  that  paper  to  you  or 
to  him,  it  shall  be  transferred,  without  alteration  or  mu 
tilation,  to  the  editors  of  the  Enquirer  and  Examiner  for 
publication,  just  as  it  came  from  my  hand ;  and,  to  show 
you  that  I  am  not  afraid  or  ashamed  to  let  your  govern 
ment  or  the  world  know  what  I  have  written,  I  will  ac 
company  the  document  with  five  hundred  or  a  thou 
sand  dollars  to  pay  for  the  expense  of  the  publication. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  xv 

Captain  Godwyn.  It  must  be  a  very  important  paper 
that  you  will  give  so  much  to  have  made  public.  What 
is  it? 

Mr.  Bolts.  I  presume  you  know  what  it  is  you  are  in 
search  of,  but  if  not  you  shall  know.  It  is  the  secret 
history  of  this  rebellion  for  thirty  years  before  it  broke 
out. 

Captain  Godwyn.  Why  are  you  so  anxious  to  have  it 
published  ? 

"  Because,"  replied  Mr.  Botts,  rising  from  his  seat  and 
advancing  toward  the  captain,  at  the  same  time  shaking 
his  huge  fist  within  a  few  inches  of  his  face,  and  speak 
ing  with  great  vehemence  in  voice  and  manner,  "  be 
cause,  by  Heaven,  sir,  if  the  people  could  read  it  and 
learn  the  truth,  it  would  lead  to  a  revolution  within  a 
revolution  in  which  I  could  take  active  part !" 

Upon  this  the  committee  rose,  and  the  captain  depart 
ed  to  report  progress  and  ask  leave  to  sit  again. 

During  Mr.  Botts's  imprisonment,  the  French  minister, 
Count  Mercier,  visited  Eichmond,  and  expressed  to  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Botts  great  anxiety  to  see  him  and  con 
verse  with  him  on  the  subject  of  the  war,  as  he  had  great 
reliance  on  his  views.  But  this  he  was  not  permitted 
to  do.  From  this  fact  it  may  be  justly  inferred  that 
the  French  consul  had  previously  communicated  some 
of  Mr.  Botts's  views  upon  this  subject  to  the  embassa- 
dor  at  Washington ;  at  all  events,  a  copy  of  the  letter 
was  placed  in  Count  Mercier's  hands  during  his  visit  to 
Richmond,  and  that  the  document  made  an  important 
impression  in  that  quarter  is  not  at  all  improbable. 


XVI 


Suffice  it  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  the  lucid  explana 
tions  made ;  the  statesmanlike  views  expressed ;  the 
startling  facts  presented ;  the  hidden  plots  disclosed ;  and 
the  vital  importance  of  the  subject  altogether,  certainly 
makes  this  secret  history  of  the  rebellion  one  of  the  most 
valuable  and  interesting  contributions  to  American  his 
torical  literature  ever  presented  to  the  public. 


CONTENTS. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  BOOK. — It  is  written  at  the  Bequest  of  the  French  Con 
sul. — The  Hartford  Convention  not  the  Birthplace  of  Secession. — The 
Stigma  attached  to  Members  of  that  Body  .—Transfer  of  the  Odium  to 
Abolitionism,  Page  29-31. 

SECESSION  ODIOUS  IN  THE  SOUTH  PRIOR  TO  1832. — The  Richmond  En 
quirer  of  that  Year  on  Secession. — The  Editor  condemns  the  Doctrine, 
31,  32. 

THE  AUTHOR  OF  SECESSION. — John  C.  Calhoun  the  Author  of  Secession. 
— His  ambitious  Projects. — The  Erostratus  of  the  19th  Century,  32, 
33. 

SECESSION  IN  1832. — How  General  Jackson  treated  Secessionists  in  1832. 
— "The  Union  must  and  shall  be  preserved,"  33. 

JACKSON'S  PROCLAMATION. — His  conscientious  Discharge  of  his  Duties. — 
The  enthusiastic  Reception  of  his  Proclamation. — Discomfiture  of  the 
would-be  Rebels,  33-36. 

PASSAGE  OF  THE  FORCE  BILL  BY  CONGRESS. — Increase  of  the  coercive 
Power  of  the  President. — Public  Sentiment  in  favor  of  strong  Measures 
against  Secession. — The  Unconstitutionality  of  Secession  proved,  36,  37. 

AN  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  DISUNION. — Extract  from  a  Speech  of  Mr.  Botts 
in  1860. — The  Union  perpetual. — The  Demon  of  Democracy  at  work, 
37-46. 

AN  IMPORTANT  NOTE. — The  Confederate  States'  Manifesto. — Mr.  Rives's 
great  Speech  on  the  Force  Bill. — The  Tergiversation  of  Mr.  Rives, 
47-63. 

CALHOUN  BARELY  ESCAPES  HANGING. — Determination  of  General  Jack 
son  "to  make  Treason  odious." — Calhoun  saved  from  the  Gallows  by 
Henry  Clay. — South  Carolina  seeks  Co-operation  of  her  "  Sister  States" 
before  making  a  second  Disunion  Experiment,  63,  64. 

SECESSION  NOT  KILLED.  —  The  Tariff  Question  laid  aside,  and  that  of 
Slavery  taken  up  as  the  Lever  of  Agitation. — The  Operation  of  ''firing 


XV111  CONTENTS. 

the  Southern  Heart"  commenced. — Timid  Whigs  driven  into  the  Ranks 
of  the  Southern  Democracy. — Every  Opponent  of  that  Party  stigma 
tized  as  an  Abolitionist. — Calhoun's  Address  to  the  South  Carolinians 
on  the  Subject  of  a  Change  of  Tactics,  Page  65,  66. 

THE  DISUNION  SCHEME  OP  THE  DEMOCRACY. — Prescience  of  Mr.  Botts 
in  Regard  to  the  Designs  of  the  Democratic  Party. — Denunciations  of 
him  by  the  Democratic  Press  and  Politicians. — Slavery  the  Pretext  for 
their  revolutionary  Efforts  to  perpetuate  their  Power,  66-68. 

THE  SECESSION  PROGRAMME. — The  Adoption  of  the  21st  Rule,  denying 
the  Right  of  Petition  to  the  North. — The  Creation  of  Sectional  Ani 
mosities. —  Misrepresentation  of  the  Sentiments  and  Objects  of  the 
Northern  People  by  the  Democratic  Press  of  the  South  and  their  Party 
Confreres  in  the  North. — Peaceful  (!)  Secession  advocated. — Reflections 
on  the  Cost  of  the  Secession  Experiment. — The  Consequences  of  the 
Success  of  the  Rebellion,  68-71. 

THE  DEMOCRACY  REVIEWED. — Aaron  Burr  the  Father  of  the  Party,  and 
Thomas  Jefferson  the  Beneficiary. — Democracy  reigns  for  Sixty  Years. 
— Its  temporary  Abdication  during  the  Regency  of  Adams. — Inaugura 
tion  of  the  System  of  "to  the  Victors  belong  the  Spoils,"  under  Jack 
son. — Southern  Presidents  for  thirty  Years. — The  Tariff  Question. — 
Calhoun's  Experiment. — The  Van  Buren  Regime. — The  Whig  Triumph 
in  1840. — Tyler's  Treachery. — The  Annexation  of  Texas.— The  Mex 
ican  War.— The  Wilmot  Proviso. — The  Compromise  of  1850.— The 
Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  71-82. 

THE  REBELLION  FORESHADOWED. — Speeches  and  Letters  of  Mr.  Botts  in 
1844. — The  Object  of  the  Texas  Annexation  Scheme. — Exposures  of 
the  Designs  of  the  Southern  Democratic  Leaders,  82-95. 

EFFORTS  TO  EXTEND  SLAVERY. — Calhoun  as  Secretary  of  State. — How 
John  Quincy  Adams  came  to  join  the  Abolitionists. — The  Charleston 
Courier  tells  Tales  out  of  School,  95-97. 

THE  STRICT  DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  DEMOCRATIC  RANKS. — The  thorough  Or 
ganization  of  the  Democracy. — The  complete  Control  of  the  Masses  by 
the  Leaders.  —  "The  cohesive  Power  of  public  Plunder." — The  Demo 
cratic  Masses  the  Dupes  of  Demagogues,  97-99. 

THE  WILMOT  PROVISO. — The  Return  of  Mr.  Clay  to  the  United  States 
Senate. — The  Compromise  Measures  of  1850  a  severe  Blow  to  the 
Democracy. — The  Standard  of  Rebellion  raised  in  the  Cotton  States  in 
1851. — Jeff  Davis  the  Secession  Candidate  for  Governor  of  Mississippi. 
— He  is  defeated  by  Foote,  the  Union  Nominee. — Georgia  follows  Suit 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

by  electing  Howell  Cobb  on  the  Union  Platform. — A  lofty  Summer 
sault  by  the  Democratic  Party,  Page  99-101. 

THE  EXTREMISTS  OF  BOTH  SECTIONS  UNITED  IN  ACTION. — The  "Fire- 
eaters"  and  "Fanatical  Abolitionists"  voting  together. — An  illustrative 
Anecdote  of  John  P.  Hale.— He  votes  with  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  101,  102. 

AGITATION  THE  OBJECT  IN  VIEW. — The  Abolitionists  seek  to  make  Pros 
elytes  in  the  North,  and  the  Secession  Democracy  to  stir  up  the  Pas 
sions  of  the  Southern  People. — Disunion  sought  by  both,  the  one  to  get 
rid  of  Slavery,  the  other  to  regain  lost  Power,  102-104. 

SECESSIONISTS  BECOME  FILIBUSTERS. — The  Expedition  to  Cuba. — Par 
tial  Revival  of  the  African  Slave-trade. — The  Nicaraguan  War. — Lo 
pez  and  Walker,  and  their  Men,  Victims  to  the  Cause  of  Secession. — 

104,  105. 

THE  SOUTHERN  COMMERCIAL  (!)  CONVENTIONS. — These  Conventions  mere 
"Primary  Meetings"  of  the  Secessionists. — The  Richmond  Examiner 
anxious  for  the  fait  accompli  of  Secession. — Mr.  Botts  attends  a  Con 
vention  at  Memphis,  and  spies  the  Wolf  beneath  the  Sheep's  Clothing, 

105,  106. 

THE  CALM  BEFORE  THE  STORM. — The  temporary  Adjustment  of  pending 
Differences  between  the  North  and  South.  —  Agitation  lulled.  —  The 
Democracy  on  the  Look-out  for  new  Causes  of  Discontent. — A  Vir 
ginia  Mason  begins  to  build  a  dividing  Wall,  106,  107. 

DEATH  OF  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN. — The  Legacy  he  left  his  Country. — Death 
of  Clay  and  Webster. — The  Giants  of  Kentucky  and  Massachusetts 
leave  a  Vacuum. — A  mental  Pigmy  from  New  Hampshire  occupies  the 
Presidential  Chair. — Pierce  and  Douglas  made  Catspaws  of  by  the 
Democratic  Leaders. — A  New  England  Pettifogger  on  the  Democratic 
Ticket  defeats  a  Virginian  Patriot  on  the  Union  Platform,  107-109. 

UNION  WHIGS  TURN  DEMOCRATIC  SECESSIONISTS. — The  Toombs's,  Ste- 
phens's,  Faulkners,  etc.,  of  the  Whig  Party,  swell  the  Democratic 
Ranks,  109,  110. 

THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW. — Its  obnoxious  Features. — Quiet  temporari 
ly  restored. — Retirement  of  John  P.  Hale. — The  Democracy  dissatis 
fied. — The  Union  to  be  saved  only  by  the  Election  of  the  Democracy  to 
Power,  110-112. 

THE  DEMOCRACY  TO  RULE,  OR  DISUNION  TO  FOLLOW. — Rebellion  to  have 
been  Inaugurated  in  1856  if  Fremont  had  been  Elected. — Buchanan's 
Election  postpones  the  Denouement  for  four  Years. — The  Election  of 
Lincoln  ends  the  Melodrama  and  begins  the  Tragedy,  112,  113. 


XX  CONTENTS. 

DEVELOPMENT  or  THE  CONSPIRACY. — The  Capital  to  have  been  seized, 
and  Lincoln  assassinated  by  a  Mob  from  New  York,  Baltimore,  and 
Eichmond.  —  The  North  to  have  "smelt  Southern  Powder  and  felt 
Southern  Steel." — Toombs  to  have  called  the  Roll  of  his  Slaves  on  Bunk 
er  Hill. — Wise  advocates  Fighting  for  his  Eights  in  the  Union  when  in 
Possession  of  Washington. — The  Attack  on  Fort  Sumter  premature. — 
The  great  Excitement  in  the  North,  East,  and  West  occasioned  by  the 
Insult  to  the  Flag  in  Charleston  Harbor. — An  Obstacle  in  the  Way  not 
thought  of. — The  Unity  of  the  North  unexpected. — The  Northern  Al 
lies  of  Southern  Traitors  quail  before  it. — The  Secession  Speeches  of 
the  ex-Unionist,  Alexander  H.  Stephens — "On  to  Washington!"  his 
Watchword,  Page  113-116. 

SPEECH  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS  AT  EICHMOND  IN  1861. — Extract 
from  the  Eichmond  Dispatch  of  April  23,  1861. — An  Editorial  from 
the  Eichmond  Sentinel  of  November  2,  1863,  Proof  of  the  Conspiracy 
to  remove  Lincoln. — Testimony  of  General  James  Wilson. — Mr.  Botts's 
Efforts  to  foil  the  Traitors.  —  He  exposes  their  Designs  to  General 
Scott.  —  An  important  "Note,"  giving  Statistics  of  the  Transfer  of 
Arms  and  Munitions  of  War  from  Northern  to  Southern  Arsenals, 
117-121. 

A  RETROSPECTIVE  GLANCE. — Quarrels  among  the  Democracy  over  the 
Spoils  in  1854. — More  Agitation  needed  for  the  Campaign  of  1856. — 
A  private  Meeting  of  Secessionists  in  Washington. — The  Eepeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  determined  upon. — Mason  and  Hunter,  of  Vir 
ginia,  start  the  Ball,  122-124. 

THE  EEPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE. — Pierce  and  Douglas  won 
over  to  this  iniquitous  Scheme  by  the  hopes  of  Self-aggrandizement. — 
The  Prize  of  a  Presidential  Nomination  in  1856  the  tempting  Bait. — 
The  hungry  Whigs  sell  their  Birthright  for  a  Mess  of  Pottage,  124-126. 

JOHN  BELL,  OF  TENNESSEE. — The  Unionism  of  Bell  tested. — He  is  found 
to  be  made  of  inferior  Metal. — Bell's  Speech  at  Memphis  in  1859. — He 
is  willing  to  join  the  Eepublicans  to  save  the  Union. — His  Eecreancy 
when  Nothing  was  to  be  made  by  Unionism,  126, 127. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE. — Extracts  from  Mr.  Botts's 
African  Church  Speech  in  1856. — The  Slavery  Question  when  the 
Constitution  was  framed. — Slavery  then  prohibited  in  all  the  Territory 
of  the  United  States. — The  Question  of  the  Status  of  the  newly-ac 
quired  Territory  of  Louisiana. — The  Compromise  on  the  Admission 
of  Missouri. — No  Slave  States  to  be  made  out  of  Territory  north  of 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

36°  40'. — Monroe's  Cabinet,  including  Calhoun,  regard  the  Compro 
mise  as  a  strictly  constitutional  Measure. — It  is  considered  a  Southern 
Triumph,  Page  127-133. 

REPEAL  OP  THE  21sT  RULE.— Calhoun  at  Work  again  stirring  up  sec 
tional  Strife. — The  Right  of  Petition  in  Congress. — Mr.  Botts  makes  a 
Stand  in  favor  of  it  against  a  Southern  Majority. — A  Review  of  the 
agitating  Questions  which  grew  out  of  the  Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise. — The  Annexation  of  Texas. — The  Admission  of  Oregon. — 
The  Inconsistency  of  the  Democracy  illustrated,  133-138. 

THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850. — The  Action  of  Mr.  Clay. — Mr.  Botts  has  a 
Conversation  with  Senator  Foote. — Mr.  Botts  and  Mr.  Clay  have  a 
Talk  together. — A  Secession  Convention  called  at  Nashville. — The 
Jackson  Resolutions  in  the  House  of  Representatives. — The  Names  of 
those  who  voted  against  a  Settlement  of  pending  Difficulties. — The 
Contest  of  1852  reviewed.  —  Pierce's  Administration.  —  Mr.  Botts's 
Charges  against  the  Democracy. — The  Cincinnati  Convention. — Mr. 
Botts  endorses  Mr.  Seward,  138-147. 

THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  BILL. — Douglas's  Remarks  in  New  York. — A 
Repetition  of  historical  Truths. — Mr.  Botts  on  Slavery. — He  declares 
himself  no  Slavery  Propagandist. — He  refuses  to  force  Slavery  upon 
the  People  any  where. — He  would  not  establish  it  in  the  Territories, 
147-153. 

THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE  AGAIN. — Its  Repeal  the  Origin  of  the  Repub 
lican  Party. — Mr.  Botts's  Letter  to  the  National  Intelligencer. — The  Con 
sequences  of  the  Repeal  predicted. — Mr.  Botts's  Opposition  excites  the 
Anger  of  the  Democracy. — Governor  Wise  "  pitches  in"  to  him. — Wise 
handled  without  Gloves  by  Mr.  Botts. — Very  interesting  Extracts. — 
Wise's  Plagiarism,  154-162. 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL  QUESTIONS  OF  1856. — Pierce  and  Douglas  thrown 
aside  for  Buchanan. — Fremont  nearly  successful. — The  Party  Cry  of 
"the  Election  of  a  Democrat  necessary  to  save  the  Union"  a  good  one. 
— The  Richmond  Examiner  again. — Preston  Brooks  makes  a  few  Re 
marks. —  Governor  Wise  proposes  to  take  Washington.  —  Mr.  Botts 
again  warns  the  People. — The  last  expiring  Effort  of  Democracy, 
162-166. 

THE  ATTEMPT  TO  MAKE  KANSAS  A  SLAVE  STATE. — It  is  a  Part  of  the 
Democratic  Programme  to  exasperate  the  North. — The  Agitators  of 
both  Sections  arraigned. — The  Southern  Democracy  the  guilty  Parties. 
—The  Iniquity  of  the  Attempt,  166-170. 


XX11  CONTENTS. 

MR.  BOTTS'S  SPEECH  IN  NEW  YORK  IN  1859. — The  Lecompton  Swindle. 
— The  Proceedings  of  the  Kansas  Convention. — The  Outrages  attempt 
ed  by  the  Southern  Democracy. — Extract  from  the  Richmond  Whig  on 
the  Subject,  Page  170-177. 

THE  JOHN  BROWN  RAID. — A  Godsend  for  the  Democracy. — The  Excite 
ment  in  Richmond. — Wise  in  his  Glory. — The  Cost  of  this  "playing 
Soldier"  to  Virginia.- — Preparations  made  for  the  Rebellion,  177-179. 

THE  NOMINATIONS  FOR  PRESIDENT  IN  1860. — The  Democratic  "Pow 
wow"  at  Charleston. — Breckinridge  in  command  of  the  Secession  De 
mocracy. — Douglas  at  the  Head  of  the  "Moderate  Democrats." — Bell 
captains  the  Unionists.  —  Lincoln  musters  the  Republican  Army  of 
"Wide-awakes." — He  wins  the  Battle. — The  Republican  Platform. — 
Its  conservative  Character,  179-181. 

THE  CONSPIRACY  DEVELOPED. — The  Treachery  of  Buchanan's  leading 
Cabinet  Officers. — They  rob  the  North  to  arm  the  South. — Virginia 
gives  a  Union  Vote  in  the  Election  of  1860,  181,  182. 

THE  ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN. — His  Election  the  Pretext  for  Rebellion. — 
Bonfires  illuminate  Charleston.  —  A  Secession  Convention  called  in 
South  Carolina. — Inauguration  of  Secession. — The  firing  upon  the 
Star  of  the  West. — The  Action  of  Governor  Letcher  in  Virginia. — He 
succumbs  to  the  Democracy. — The  illegitimate  Call  for  the  Convention, 
183,  184. 

THE  "SO-CALLED"  PEACE  (!)  CONGRESS. — The  pretended  Efforts  of 
the  Democracy  to  obtain  a  peaceful  Solution  of  the  great  Problem. — 
Proofs  of  their  Pretense. — The  Resolutions  of  the  Peace  Congress,  and 
the  Cheat  played  oft'  upon  the  People  in  regard  to  them. — Tyler  and 
Seddon  play  their  "little  Game,"  184-189. 

THE  CRITTENDEN  COMPROMISE  MEASURES. — Jeff  Davis  and  Bob  Toombs 
defeat  their  Passage. — No  Compromise  desired. — The  Amendment  to 
prohibit  Congress  from  legislating  on  Slavery  refused,  189,  190. 

THE  RICHMOND  Whig  ON  RECONSTRUCTION. — The  Fault  not  in  the  Con 
stitution. —  The  South  objects  to  Yankees.  —  They  want  to  be  "let 
alone." — What  Preston  Brooks  said,  190,  191. 

WHAT  ANDREW  JOHNSON  SAID. — His  Speech  at  Nashville  in  1862. — Six 
Southern  Senators  refuse  to  record  their  Votes  in  order  to  defeat  the 
Crittenden  Compromise. — Withdrawal  of  the  Southern  States  while 
in  control  of  both  Houses  of  Congress.  —  The  North  refuses  to  leg 
islate  against  Slavery,  though  Secession  had  given  them  the  Power, 
191-193. 


CONTENTS.  XX111 

THE  VIRGINIA  CONVENTION  or  1861. — The  Character  of  the  Convention. 
— How  Civil  War  in  Virginia  might  have  been  avoided. — Mr.  Lincoln 
makes  an  Offer  to  John  B.  Baldwin,  one  of  the  then  Union  Leaders  of 
the  Convention. — Mr.  Lincoln  offers  to  evacuate  Fort  Sumter  if  the 
Convention  will  adjourn  sine  die  without  passing  an  Ordinance  of  Se 
cession. — Baldwin  declines  the  Offer,  Page  194. 

MR.  BOTTS  HAS  AN  INTERVIEW  WITH  MR.  LINCOLN. — The  President's 
Message  to  Governor  Pickens,  of  South  Carolina. — He  does  not  want 
War. — He  "will  make  greater  Sacrifices  for  Peace  than  any  Man  in 
the  Country." — Mr.  Botts  returns  to  Richmond  to  consult  with  the 
Union  Men  of  the  Convention. — Baldwin  keeps  Mr.  Lincoln's  Offer  se 
cret. — He  accepts  a  military  Position  in  the  Confederate  Service  three 
Days  after  the  State  secedes,  194-200. 

THE  VIRGINIA  "STATE-RIGHTS"  CONVENTION. — The  Secession  Conven 
tion  at  Metropolitan  Hall,  Richmond. — Its  Object  to  coerce  the  regular 
State  Convention. — The  Governor  to  be  deposed  and  Revolution  inau 
gurated  if  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  not  passed  before  April  20, 
201-203. 

THE  REBELLION  INAUGURATED.  —  The  Richmond  Secessionists  send  a 
Delegate  to  Charleston  to  start  the  Ball  of  Rebellion.  —  Speech  of 
Roger  A.  Pryor  at  Charleston. — The  Attack  on  Fort  Sumter  com 
menced. — The  Capture  of  Washington  the  next  Thing  on  the  Pro 
gramme,  203,  204. 

PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  PROCLAMATION  IN  1861. — The  Proclamation  an 
unfortunate  Document.— The  Reason  why  it  was. — It  was  not  proper 
ly  worded,  and  called  for  too  few  Men. — The  Union  Party  of  the  South 
paralyzed  by  it. — Mr.  Botts  alone  raises  his  Voice  against  Secession  at 
this  critical  Time,  205-208. 

THE  ORDINANCE  OF  SECESSION  PASSED  IN  VIRGINIA. — The  Vote  on  its 
Passage. — Rebellion  inaugurated  in  Virginia. — Post-office  and  Cus 
tom-house  seized  in  Richmond. — Attack  on  the  Gosport  Navy-yard 
and  Harper's  Ferry  Buildings,  208,  209. 

THE  ILLEGAL  STATE  ACTION  OF  THE  VIRGINIA  CONVENTION. — They  adopt 
the  Constitution  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. — The  State  transferred 
to  that  Government. — The  Ratification  of  the  Secession  Ordinance. — 
The  Vote  a  complete  Farce. — The  limited  Powers  of  the  Convention. 
— The  Annexation  of  Virginia  to  the  Southern  Confederacy  neither 
ratified  by  the  People  nor  submitted  to  them  for  Approval,  209-211. 

THE  RATIFICATION  OF  THE  ORDINANCE  OF  SECESSION. — Mr.  Botts  refuses 


XXIV  CONTENTS. 

to  ratify  the  Action  of  the  Convention. — The  Vote  on  the  Question 
kept  secret.— The  Character  of  the  Outrage  committed,  Page  211-213. 

ME.  Boris's  EFFORTS  TO  PREVENT  CIVIL  WAR.  —  His  Letter  to  Mr. 
Bates. — His  Propositions  repudiated. — The  Excitement  against  him  in 
Richmond. — Article  from  the  Richmond  Whig. — An  Editorial  from 
the  Richmond  Dispatch. — "Tories  and  Traitors,"  213-216. 

MR.  BOTTS  RETIRES  FROM  THE  CONTEST  IN  DESPAIR. — He  might  have 
had  a  high  Position  in  the  Confederacy. — He  prefers  a  Prison  in  the 
Cause  of  the  Union,  216,  217. 

"  HONEST  JOHN  BELL"  AGAIN. — John  Bell's  Selfishness. — He  holds  to 
the  Union  as  long  as  he  thinks  it  profitable. — The  Defection  of  South 
ern  Unionists  in  general. — The  Temptation  of  Offices  under  Jeff  Davis 
too  great  to  be  resisted,  217,  218. 

THE  SOUTH  NO  CAUSE  OF  COMPLAINT. — The  law-making  Power  of  the 
United  States  Government  in  the  Hands  of  the  South  from  1801  to 
1861. — They  control  Congress  for  fifty  Years. — What  the  Southern 
Democracy  did  in  that  Period. — Their  last  Act  an  Effort  to  destroy 
the  United  States  Government  in  order  to  regain  lost  Power. — The 
Task  of  the  Democracy  finished,  and  their  Mission  ended,  218-222. 

THE  RESULT  OF  THE  REBELLION. — The  futile  Effort  of  five  Millions  of 
People  to  overthrow  twenty-two  Millions. — Mr.  Botts,  in  1861,  predicts 
the  disastrous  Failure  of  the  Rebellion. — What  Democracy  has  done. — 
They  turn  Southern  Fields  into  Grave-yards,  cover  the  Laud  with 
Mourning,  fill  the  South  with  Widows  and  Orphans,  and  impoverish 
the  entire  South. — All  this  done  to  perpetuate  the  Power  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  Party,  222-224. 

CONCLUSION. — Reflections  on  the  State  of  the  Country. — Mr.  Botts  de 
clares  the  Union  to  be  "the  God  of  my  Idolatry  on  Earth." — The  Re 
bellion  the  greatest  Crime  since  the  Crucifixion  of  the  Savior,  224-226. 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  APPENDIX. 

THE  GREAT  STRIKE  FOR  HIGHER  WAGES. — More  of  its  History. — The 
Vallandigham  Conspiracy. — The  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle. — Gen 
eral  Gantt's  Testimony.  —  General  McClellan  escapes  the  "Potter's 
Hands." — The  Character  of  the  "Strike." — Mr.  Botts  is  advised  by  a 
"Friend"  to  take  up  the  Southern  Cross. — He  resists  the  Temptation, 
and  goes  in  for  "the  old  Flag  or  none." — He  is  requested  to  explain 


CONTENTS.  XXV 

his  Views  of  the  Question. — His  Letter  to  the  Alexandria  Gazette  in 
I860,  Page  227-248. 

MR.  BOTTS'S  NOMINATION  FOR  THE  STATE  CONVENTION. — His  Letter  of 
Acceptance. — He  prophesies  the  Consequences  of  Secession. — He 
makes  an  Effort  to  prevent  Civil  War,  248-257. 

THE  BATES  LETTERS. — Mr.  Botts  writes  to  Attorney  General  Bates. — He 
proposes  to  let  the  Cotton  States  have  constitutional  Leave  to  with 
draw. — He  thinks  a  short  Time  would  satisfy  them  of  the  Folly  of  the 
Experiment — His  Object  only  to  avoid  Civil  War,  not  to  legalize  Se 
cession. — Editorial  Comments  of  the  Richmond  Dispatch  on  his  first 
Letter. — Mr.  Bates's  Eeply. — The  suppressed  Letters  of  this  Corre 
spondence. — The  last  Letters  of  Mr.  Botts. — He  fully  explains  his  Po 
sition.— Extracts  from  his  Letter  to  the  Troy  Whig,  257-279. 

THE  PARTICULARS  OF  MR.  BOTTS'S  ARREST. — He  is  lodged  in  a  filthy 
negro  Jail  for  eight  Weeks. — Mr.  Botts  the  first  Victim  to  Loyalty  in 
Virginia. — The  prison  Treatment. — The  Inauguration  of  the  Reign  of 
Terror. — The  odious  Southern  Conscription. — Benjamin  in  the  Rule 
of  a  "sneaking  Thief,"  279-281. 

MR.  BOTTS'S  LETTER  TO  G.  W.  RANDOLPH  IN  18G2. — He  protests  against 
the  Tyranny  of  his  Enemies. — He  demands  Trial. — Plain  Talk  to  the 
Confederate  Secretary  of  War. — The  Order  for  Mr.  Botts's  Removal  to 
the  Interior. — The  tyrant  Winder  writes  to  him,  281-290. 

MR.  BOTTS'S  OFFICIAL  PROTEST. — His  Reasons  for  protesting  against  his 
Imprisonment. — His  Release  from  Prison. — He  expects  "  Little  Mac." 
— A  Chapter  on  General  M'CIellan. — The  Ease  with  which  he  could 
have  taken  Richmond  in  1862.— The  great  Defeat  of  the  Rebels  at 
Malvern  Hill.— M'Clellan  retreats  from  a  flying  Foe,  291-294. 

MR.  BOTTS  MOVES  TO  CULPEPPER. — He  purchases  a  Farm  of  2200  Acres. 
— Jeb  Stuart  begins  his  Persecutions. — The  Robberies  of  the  Confed 
erate  Army. — How  General  Meade  failed  in  capturing  Lee's  Army. — 
A  Bull-Run  Panic  among  the  Rebels  after  the  Battle  of  Kelly's  Ford. 
— Outrageous  Conduct  of  Stuart's  Army,  294-297. 

MR.  BOTTS'S  LETTER  TO  THE  RICHMOND  Examiner  IN  18G3. — A  graphic 
Picture  of  the  thrilling  Times  of '63. — His  bold,  defiant  Language  while 
in  the  Rebel  Lines,  297-307. 

A  CLEAR  RECORD  DESIRED. — Mr.  Botts  declines  the  United  States  Sen- 
atorship  of  Virginia. — He  hopes  to  be  the  Means  of  reconciling  the 
North  and  South,  307-309. 

MR.  BOTTS'S  LINCOLN  LETTER. — His  Opinion  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  Ad- 

B 


XXVI  CONTENTS. 

ministration. — An  impressive  Incident. — A  Delegation  of  Ministers 
visit  Mr.  Botts  and  have  the  Letter  read  to  them. — His  Views  on  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation. — What  he  thought  of  the  Confiscation 
Act. — Mr.  Botts  says,  "Let  the  Nation  live,  and  let  Slavery  perish. "- 
The  Democracy  of  the  South  the  Destroyers  of  Slavery :  "Out  of  Evil 
cometh  Good." — He  considers  the  Amnesty  Act  a  Mistake. — He  con 
tends  that  the  States  never  left  the  Union,  but  that  their  Citizens  did, 
Page  310-320. 

THE  GILMER  LETTER. — John  A.  Gilmer,  of  North  Carolina,  wants  Mr. 
Botts  to  go  to  Washington  to  "stop  the  War. " — His  Answer  to  this  Re 
quest. — A  conquered  Peace  the  only  one  to  be  had. — He  refers  to  what 
Mr.  Stephens  said  in  I860,  320-328. 

THE  CONGRESSIONAL  TEST-OATH. — Mr.  Botts's  Opinion  solicited. — His 
Eesponse  to  the  Request. — No  Doubt  of  the  Right  of  Congress  to  im 
pose  the  Oath. — None  but  a  "religious  Test-oath"  prohibited  by  the 
Constitution. — Each  House  of  Congress  to  be  its  own  Judge  of  the 
Qualifications  of  its  Members. — He  tells  them  in  September,  18G5,  that 
the  Oath  will  not  be  repealed  by  Congress. — Though  he  fed  the  Hun 
gry,  and  administered  to  the  Sick  and  Wounded  of  the  Rebel  Army,  as 
he  did  to  those  of  the  National  Forces,  he  can,  nevertheless,  take  the 
Oath  conscientiously. — Acting  the  Part  of  the  good  Samaritan  is  not 
giving  Aid  to  or  having  Sympathy  with  the  Rebellion. — The  second 
Letter  on  the  Subject. — He  clearly  proves  the  constitutionality  of  the 
Oath,  328-339. 

PRESIDENT  JOHNSON'S  POLICY  OF  RECONSTRUCTION. — Mr.  Botts's  Views 
on  the  Subject. — He  thought  Mr.  Johnson  intended  to  make  "Treason 
odious,"  and  not  a  Virtue. — His  Labors  to  restore  Harmony  to  the  dis 
tracted  South. — He  seeks  Pardons  for  his  former  Persecutors,  and,  like 
the  Snakes  they  were,  they  stung  the  Hand  that  saved  them.— He  sees 
Pardons  bought  and  sold  in  the  White  House. — He  exposes  the  Cor 
ruption  to  the  President. — Loyal  Unionists  kept  in  the  Background, 
while  the  worst  Class  of  Rebels  are  allowed  to  take  Office. — The  grad 
ual  change  of  Rebels  from  humble  Supplicants  to  tyrannical  Task 
masters. — They  assume  Superiority  over  Unionists,  and  their  Assump 
tion  is  tacitly  acknowledged  by  the  President,  339-311. 

MR.  BOTTS'S  AXIOMS. — Secession  forbidden  by  the  Constitution. — All 
Ordinances  of  the  kind  null  and  void. — The  Absurdity  of  state  Alle 
giance  being  paramount. — No  such  thing  as  thirty-six  different  Alle 
giances  in  the  United  States,  and  yet  none  to  the  Central  Government. 


CONTENTS.  XXV11 

— No  State  has  been  out  of  the  Union. — Men  can  go  out,  however, 
though  they  can  not  take  a  State  out. — The  Rebel  Government  a  de 
facto  Government,  and  all  its  Citizens  who  voluntarily  swore  Alle 
giance  to  it  Aliens. — The  Functions  of  the  Rebel  States  suspended. — 
These  Functions  only  to  be  restored  by  the  law-making  Power  of  the 
United  States,  viz.,  by  President,  House,  and  Senate  acting  together. 
— Properly  elected  and  truly  loyal  Representatives  entitled  to.  Seats  in 
Congress. — To  withhold  the  Right  of  such  to  Seats  would  be  to  place 
loyal  and  disloyal  on  a  par. — No  Presidential  Pardons  legal  until  the 
Pardoned  have  been  tried. — The  Policy  of  Reconstruction  to  be  recom 
menced  under  different  Auspices  ;  the  present  Policy  declared  a  Fail 
ure. — The  unconstitutional  Action  of  the  Virginia  Legislature. — Loyal 
Men  the  only  Parties  legally  entitled  to  legislate  in  a  reconstructed 
State,  Page  341-344. 

THE  GARNETT  LETTERS — THE  FIRST  LETTER. — Mr.  Botts  is  requested 
to  "define  his  Position." — He  docs  it,  greatly  to  the  Disgust  of  ye 
Traitors. — He  shows  the  Illegality  of  the  Action  of  the  State  Legis 
lature  of  Virginia. — He  quotes  Mr.  Johnson's  Record  to  show  what  his 
Policy  is,  or  should  be,  rather. — He  analyzes  the  Sequel  to  the  great 
Southern  Strike  for  higher  Wages. — He  quotes  legal  Authority  as  to 
the  pardoning  Power  of  the  President. — What  Attorney  General  Wirt, 
of  Virginia,  said  in  1820.— What  Roger  B.  Taney  said  in  1831.— He 
clenches  the  Nail  with  Chief  Justice  Marshall's  Opinion  on  the  Subject. 
— Tired  of  being  persecuted  by  pardoned  Rebels,  h*  declares  his  Inten 
tion  to  enter  the  Lists  against  the  reconstructed  Traitors  alone,  344- 
359. 

THE  SECOND  LETTER. — Mr.  Botts  gives  one  of  his  "gentle  Rebukes"  to 
Mr.  Garnett. — The  "Rebuke"  a  scorching  Epistle. — The  Axioms  il 
lustrated.— Mr.  Botts's  "Roland" for  Mr.  Garnett's  "  Oliver,"  359-367. 

THE  THIRD  LETTER. — Mr.  Botts  gives  Evidence  of  the  Disloyalty  of  the 
"Reconstructed." — The  Conspiracy  to  involve  the  Nation  in  a  foreign 
War. —The  Prescience  of  Mr.  Botts  in  1841, '44, '54,  and  '61.— 
More  Evidence  of  the  Proscription  of  loyal  People  in  the  South. — Mr. 
Botts's  Opinion  on  the  Veto  of  the  Bureau  Bill,  367-375. 

THE  FOURTH  LETTER. — A  Response  to  Mr.  Garnett's  Letter. — Mr,  Botts 
corrects  Garnett's  Errors.  —  Explains  the  Test-oath  to  him. — The 
Senatorial  Question. — The  Axioms  explained. — The  President's  Policy 
referred  to. — Some  pointed  Questions. — Treason  to  be  made  odious, 
376-384. 

<rSTT5>v 

Or  TH£  \ 


XXV111  CONTENTS. 

MR.  Boris's  PLAN  OF  RECONSTRUCTION. — His  Letter  to  Congress. — Ob 
jections  to  the  Report  of  the  Congressional  Reconstruction  Committee. 
— No  Relief  for  the  white  Unionists  of  the  South. — The  Power  to  vote 
dependent  upon  the  grade  of  Office  held  instead  of  the  grade  of  Offense 
committed. — The  President  can  not  approve  the  Bill. — No  Southern 
State  will  adopt  it. — A  new  Oath  suggested.— No  one  over  twenty-five 
who  voluntarily  took  up  Arms  against  the  United  States  Government 
to  hold  Office  for  ten  Years. — A  remission  of  forfeiture  of  Life,  Liberty, 
and  Property  the  Contingent. — Boys  and  young  Men,  together  with 
those  dragged  in  to  Rebellion,  not  to  be  held  to  a  Responsibility,  Page 
384-388. 

MR.  LINCOLN  AND  HIS  POLICY. — A  Tribute  to  the  Martyred  President. 
— The  gross  Injustice  done  Mr.  Lincoln. — The  Lies  of  the  Democratic 
Almanac. — The  Republican  Platform  of  I860. — Its  best  Plank  shown. 
— The  false  Statements  of  partisan  Publications  refuted. — Democratic 
Efforts  to  "  fire  the  Southern  Heart." — Mr.  Lincoln's  Speech  in  March, 
1861. — His  Reply  to  a  Committee  of  so-called  Southern  Unionists. — 
Their  false  Report  thereon. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Message  in  March,  1862. — 
Important  Memorandum  of  an  Interview  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
several  Representatives  of  the  Border  States  in  1862. — Another  Inter 
view  with  Members  of  Congress  in  July,  1862. — He  explains  his  Views 
on  the  Slavery  Question.— Compensation  for  Slaves  made'Tree,  and 
gradual  Emancipation  offered  to  the  South. — The  Fremont  Proclama 
tion  revoked  by  Mr.  Lincoln. — Hunter's  ditto. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Letter 
to  the  Tribune. — The  Union  to  be  saved  at  all  Hazards — with  Slavery 
or  without  it. — Mr.  Botts's  Comments  on  Mr.  Lincoln's  Policy. — The 
Vote  on  the  Crittenden  Proposition. — An  apt  Quotation  from  Presi 
dent  Johnson  when  that  eminent  Tennesseean  regarded  Treason  as 
odious,  and  was  ready  to  punish  Traitors,  388-402. 


O 

I  VWV 


THE  GREAT  REBELLION, 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    BOOK. 

To  Charles  Palmer^  JEsq. : 

Home,  near  Richmond,  October,  1SG1. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — By  your  letter  of  yesterday,  I  am  in 
formed  that  the  French  consul  has  applied  to  you  for  such 
information  as  you  can  furnish  or  obtain  for  him  respecting 
the  origin  and  progress  of  the  doctrine  of  Secession,  togeth 
er  with  whatever  else  may  be  deemed  important  or  inter 
esting,  as  connected  with  the  purposes  and  designs  of  the 
authors  of  this  great  Southern  Rebellion ;  and,  as  one  more 
familiar  with  the  subject  than  yourself,  you  appeal  to  me 
for  the  information  required,  to  which  I  answer. 

It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  this  doctrine  of  Se 
cession  had  its  origin  with  the  famous  "  Hartford"  Conven 
tion  that  was  held  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  in  the  year 
1814,  during  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain;  but,  with  all 
the  research  I  have  been  able  to  make,  I  have  not  succeed 
ed  in  tracing  this  wild  and  pernicious  assumption  to  that 
body.  That  it  embraced  a  large  degree  of  disaffected  and 
disloyal  spirit  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  is 
undoubtedly  true ;  that  the  authors  of  its  creation  were  sus 
pected  and  charged  with  entertaining  such  a  design,  is  also 
beyond  question ;  but  it  does  not  appear,  by  its  published 
proceedings,  to  have  claimed  such  right,  or  to  have  resorted 


30  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

to  such  a  remedy  for  the  evils  of  which  they  complained. 
They  certainly  manifested  a  deep  hostility  to  the  war  then 
existing,  and  a  great  want  of  respect  for  the  Constitution, 
and  of  good  feeling  for  the  government ;  and  to  the  former 
they  proposed  certain  amendments,  which  received  the  sanc 
tion  of  two  only  of  those  States  that  were  represented  in 
the  Convention,  to  wit,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut. 

It  is  not  at  all  improbable,  that  in  the  outset,  the  mem 
bers  of  that  Convention  did  contemplate  a  resort  to  some 
such  Quixotic  scheme,  and  that  they  were  driven  from  their 
purpose  by  the  universal  condemnation  of  every  patriotic 
voice  and  pen  that  could  be  raised  or  wielded  in  the  land ; 
for  such  was  the  odium  and  the  infamy  that  attached  to 
that  body,  from  the  bare  suspicion  of  its  disloyalty  and  trea 
sonable  design  of  originating  separate  action  for  the  States, 
as  sovereign  powers  independent  of  their  obligations  to  the 
Constitution  and  their  allegiance  to  the  national  govern 
ment,  that  it  was  quite  enough  to  damn  the  fame  of  any 
man  in  the  nation,  and  to  hold  him  up  to  public  obloquy 
and  contempt,  if  upon  him  could  be  fastened  the  stain  of 
being  a  "  Hartford  Conventionist"  either  in  fact  or  in  sym 
pathy  of  feeling ;  and  it  is  not  less  remarkable  than  true, 
that  no  New  England  man,  from  that  day  to  this,  no  mat 
ter  what  the  extent  of  his  capacity,  integrity,  or  patriotism, 
has  been  able  to  achieve  for  himself  a  great  national  popu 
larity  and  strength,  because  of  the  odium  that  stuck,  like 
the  shirt  of  KTessus,  to  those  States  for  having  been  held  to 
entertain  such  unpatriotic  and  unconstitutional  sentiments, 
and  for  having  permitted  such  a  Convention  to  have  been 
held  within  their  limits ;  and  every  man  at  all  familiar  with 
the  history  of  the  country  will  recognize  the  truth  of  the 
assertion,  that  for  more  than  twenty  years  after  that  Con 
vention  was  held,  whenever  the  Southern  Democracy  de- 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  31 

terrnined  to  hunt  an  adversary  down  by  blackening  his  rep 
utation,  or  destroying  his  claims  to  public  confidence,  he 
was  assailed  as  being  a  "Hartford  Conventionist  f  while 
in  later  years,  when,  in  order  to  retain  their  power,  they 
contemplated  an  ultimate  resort  to  the  same  infamous  and 
treasonable  expedient  of  separation  from  the  Union,  they 
have  singly )  in  pairs  and  in  packs,  hunted  down  and  de 
famed  the  character  of  every  antagonist  by  substituting  the 
charge  of  being  an  Abolitionist  in  lieu  of  their  famous  cry 
of  "Hartford  Conventionist" 

SECESSION    ODIOUS    IX   THE   SOUTH   PRIOR   TO    1832. 

I  will  take  it  upon  myself  to  say  here,  that  at  the  time 
this  charge  of  "secession"  was  made  upon  that  Convention, 
there  was  not  one  man  in  any  party  in  the  Southern  States 
that  did-  not  hold  the  doctrine  in  utter  abomination,  and 
did  not  openly  proclaim  it  to  be  treason  against  the  govern 
ment  ;  and  if  there  were  any  who  thought  differently,  they 
did  not  dare  to  give  public  utterance  to  the  sentiment.  Mr. 
Jefferson,  Mr.  Madison,  and  Judge  Spencer  Roane,  were  all 
open  and  loud  in  their  denunciation  of  the  "  treason"  on  the 
part  of  those  who  were  supposed  to  claim  such  right ;  while 
now  we  find,  that  what  wras  imperishable  dishonor  and  in 
famy  at  that  day,  is  regarded  as  the  highest  test  of  patriot 
ism  at  this ;  and  it  is  almost  as  much  as  a  man's  life  is 
worth  to  be  found  in  opposition  to  this  odious  doctrine 
and  to  its  practical  application.  At  that  time  there  was 
another  gentleman  wrho  exerted  a  great  influence  over  the 
minds  of  the  Democracy  of  the  state,  who  is  now  no  more 
— I  mean  Thomas  Ritchie,  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer.  The 
Enquirer  of  that  day — then  under  the  control  of  the  party 
headed  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  with  the  whole  body  of  the 
ablest  men  of  the  Democracy  in  the  Union  as  its  contrff- 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

utors  and  advisers,  and  when  no  step  was  taken  by  that  pa 
per  that  was  not  approved  by  the  "  Junto" — said, 

"  No  man,  no  association  of  men,  no  state  or  set  of  states, 
has  a  right  to  withdraw  itself  from  the  Union  of  its  own 
accord.  The  same  power  which  knit  us  together  can  alone 
imknit.  The  same  formality  which  formed  the  links  of  the 
Union  is  necessary  to  dissolve  it.  The  majority  of  states 
which  formed  the  Union  must  consent  to  the  withdrawal  of 
any  one  branch  of  it.  Until  that  consent  has  been  obtained, 
any  attempt  to  dissolve  the  Union  or  obstruct  the  efficacy 
of  its  constitutional  laws  is  TREASON — TREASON,  TO  ALL  IN- 


TIIE   AUTIIOR    OP    SECESSION. 

No,  sir !  The  unfading  honor,  and  the  crowning  glory  of 
originating  a  measure  for  the  practical  destruction  of  this 
government,  and  for  the  annihilation  of  the  liberties  of  man 
kind,  were  reserved  for  a  disappointed  aspirant  for  the 
Presidency,  who,  Lucifer-like,  preferred  to  '•'•reign  in  hell 
rather  than  serve  in  heaven."  The  name  of  Erostratus  has 
been  handed  down  to  posterity  for  centuries  past  as  the  de 
stroyer  of  the  Ephesian  Temple;  in  like  manner  will  the 
name  of  John  C.  Calhoun  be  handed  down,  for  ages  to  come, 
as  the  destroyer  of  the  last  great  temple  of  liberty  left 
standing  on  the  globe,  provided  this  rebellion  should  prove 
successful. 

Mr.  Calhoun,  who  was  a  most  plausible  and  ambitious,  but 
extremely  metaphysical  yet  popular  politician  in  his  own 
state,  disappointed  in  his  reckless  cravings  for  the  Presi 
dency,  [first  conceived,  in  the  year  1832,  the  idea  of  estab 
lishing  a  separate  independence  for  South  Carolina,  over 
which  state  he  held  omnipotent  sway,  and  in  the  control 
of  which  none  could  compete  with  him  for  supremacy. 


TI1E   GREAT  REBELLION.  33 

While  he  proposed  this  separate  action  for  that  state,  it 
was  not  without  hope  that  other  Southern  States  would 
come  to  its  aid  in  the  event  of  an  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  general  government  to  enforce  obedience  to  its  laws  in 
the  revolted  state.  The  pretext  then  set  up  for  this  absurd 
claim  was,  the  oppression  under  which  it  was  pretended 
they  were  suffering  through  the  practical  operation  of  the 
protective  system,  of  which  Mr.  Calhoun  himself  had  been 
an  earnest  advocate  and  efficient  champion  at  an  earlier  pe 
riod  of  his  life. 

SECESSION  IN  1832. 

At  that  day  South  Carolina  had  few  sympathizers  any 
wherej  and  a  very  small  number  only  in  the  South  who  pro 
fessed  to  believe  in  the  right  of  a  state  to  secede  from  the 
Union.  But  to  such  an  extent  had  this  fever  raged  in  that 
unfortunate  and  discontented  state,  where  Mr.  Calhoun  was 
idolized,  that  they  proceeded  to  call  a  Convention,  and  act 
ually  passed  an  ordinance  declaring  their  connection  with 
the  government  of  the  United  States  dissolved,  unless  the 
tariff  was  adjusted  to  suit  their  views.  General  Jackson 
was  then  President  of  the  United  States,  and  also  a  native 
of  South  Carolina;  and  whatever  may  be  said  in  disparage 
ment  of  this  old  chief,  it  can  not  be  denied  that  he  pos 
sessed  many  very  strong  and  estimable  traits  of  character, 
among  the  most  prominent  of  which  were  a  stern,  unflinch 
ing  devotion  to  the  Union,  a  resolute  purpose  to  prosecute 
vigorously  whatever  he  undertook,  and  an  iron  will  that 
was  not  to  be  controlled  when  his  mind  was  once  made  up. 


Upon  the  passage  of  this  Ordinance  of  Secession,  General 
Jackson  issued  his  celebrated  proclamation,  calling  upon  the 

B  2 


34  THE    GREAT    REBELLION. 

people  to  retrace  their  steps,  to  repudiate  the  action  of  their 
leading  men,  and  return  to  their  allegiance  to  the  govern 
ment  established  by  their  fathers.  One  passage  from  this 
proclamation  is  here  inserted,  and  is  worthy  of  beino; 
stamped  indelibly  upon  the  mind  and  heart  of  every  true 
friend  of  his  country.  General  Jackson  said, 

"  JSTo  act  of  violent  opposition  to  the  laws  has  yet  been 
committed,  but  such  a  state  of  things  is  hourly  apprehend 
ed  ;  and  it  is  the  intent  of  this  instrument  to  proclaim  not 
only  that  the  duty  imposed  upon  me  by  the  Constitution  to 
take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,  shall  be  per 
formed  to  the  extent  of  the  powers  already  vested  in  me  by 
law,  or  of  such  other  as  the  wisdom  of  Congress  shall  de 
sire  and  intrust  to  me  for  that  purpose,  but  to  warn  the  cit 
izens  of  South  Carolina,  who  have  been  deluded  into  an  op 
position  to  the  laws,  of  the  danger  they  will  incur  by  obe 
dience  to  the  illegal  and  disorganizing  ordinance  of  the 

Convention The  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be 

executed.  I  have  no  discretionary  power  on  the  subject. 
My  duty  is  emphatically  pronounced  in  the  Constitution. 
Those  who  told  you  that  you  might  peaceably  prevent  their 
execution  deceived  you.  They  could  not  have  been  de 
ceived  themselves ;  they  know  that  a  forcible  opposition 
could  alone  prevent  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  they 
know  that  such  opposition  must  be  repelled.  Their  object 
is  disunion.  But  be  not  deceived  by  names.  Disunion  by 
armed  force  is  TREASON.  Are  you  ready  to  incur  its  guilt  ? 
If  you  are,  on  the  heads  of  the  instigators  of  the  act  be 
the  dreadful  consequences;  on  their  heads  be  the  dishonor, 
but  on  yours  may  fall  the  punishment.  On  your  unhappy 
state  will  inevitably  fall  all  the  evils  of  the  conflict  you  force 
upon  the  government  of  your  country.  It  can  not  accede 
to  the  mad  project  of  disunion,  of  which  you  would  be  the 


THE    GEEAT   REBELLION.  35 

first  victims.  Its  first  magistrate  can  not,  if  he  would,  avoid 
the  performance  of  his  duty.  The  consequence  must  be 
fearful  for  you,  distressing  to  your  fellow-citizens  here,  and 
to  the  friends  of  good  government  throughout  the  world. 
....  Snatch  from  the  archives  of  your  state  the  disorgan 
izing  edict  of  its  Convention ;  bid  the  members  to  reassem 
ble  and  promulgate  the  decided  expressions  of  your  will  to 
remain  in  ttie  faith  which  alone  can  conduct  you  to  safety, 
prosperity,  and  honor.  Tell  them  that,  compared  to  disun 
ion,  all  other  evils  are  light,  because  that  brings  with  it  an 
accumulation  of  ills.  Declare  that  you  will  never  take  the 
field  unless  the  star-spangled  banner  of  your  country  shall 
float  over  you;  that  you  will  not  be  stigmatized  when  dead, 
and  dishonored  and  scorned  while  you  live,  as  the  authors 
of  the  first  attack  on  the  Constitution  of  your  country.  Its 
destroyers  you  can  not  be.  You  may  disturb  its  peace ; 
you  may  interrupt  the  course  of  its  prosperity ;  you  may 
cloud  its  reputation  for  stability,  but  its  tranquillity  will  be 
restored,  its  prosperity  will  return,  and  the  stain  upon  its 
national  character  will  be  transferred,  and  remain  an  eter 
nal  blot  on  the  memory  of  those  who  caused  the  disorder." 
This  was  the  language  held  by  this  son  of  South  Caro 
lina  when  his  own  state  was  in  a  condition  of  revolt  against 
the  Union.  By  the  masses  of  unselfish,  honest,  patriotic 
people  every  where,  this  proclamation  was  received  with 
enthusiastic  shouts  of  admiration,  while  by  the  selfish,  prof 
ligate,  and  corrupt  politicians,  it  was  received  with  mur 
murs  of  discontent ;  yet  none  ventured  or  dared  to  stigma 
tize  Jackson  as  a  traitor.  The  harshest  term  any  Demo 
cratic  orator  or  writer  applied  to  him  was  that  he  was  an 
"  old  Federalist."  Yet  Jackson,  twelve  years  after,  went 
down  to  his  grave  the  idol  of  his  party.  Now  contrast  all 
this  with  the  disgusting  and  nauseating  denunciations  we 


36  THE   GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

daily  read  of  General  Scott  for  not  binding  himself  to  the 
treasonable  designs  of  the  reckless  and  profligate  politicians 
of  this  his  native  state. 

PASSAGE    OF   THE   FORCE   BILL   BY   CONGRESS. 

General  Jackson  at  the  same  time  appealed  to  Congress 
to  confer  upon  him  additional  powers  to  crush  this  rebellious 
movement  on  the  part  of  South  Carolina ;  whereupon  Con 
gress,  without  hesitation  or  delay,  passed  what  has  been 
known  as  the  "Force  Bill"  by  which  his  power  over  the 
whole  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  was  great 
ly  enlarged ;  and  this  bill  was  passed  by  such  overwhelm 
ing  majorities  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  as  to  furnish, 
in  the  most  unmistakable  manner,  the  conclusive  fact  that 
the  public  sentiment  was  every  where  in  vehement  opposi 
tion  to  the  ridiculous  pretension  that  the  Union,  as  formed 
by  our  fathers,  was  constructed  on  the  principle  of  a  bomb 
shell  (as  is  this  Southern  Confederacy),  containing  the  el 
ements  of  its  own  destruction  in  its  midst,  which  would 
sooner  or  later  explode  and  leave  a  wreck  behind,  by  rec 
ognizing  the  right  of  any  one  or  more  states,  in  a  fit  of  pas 
sion,  excitement,  interest,  or  caprice,  to  retire  from  the  obli 
gations  they  had  voluntarily  entered  into,  one  with  the  oth 
er,  and  each  with  all  the  rest,  for  their  common  welfare  and 
general  security ;  but  that  it  was,  as  it  was  intended  to  be, 
and  was  declared  in  express  terms  by  the  old  Articles  of 
Confederation  to  be,  a  permanent  and  "  perpetual  Union." 
The  good  sense  of  the  country  at  that  day  laughed  to  scorn 
the  preposterous  idea  that  when  the  framers  of  the  Constitu 
tion  declared  that  the  object  of  that  instrument  was  to  form 
"a  more  perfect  Union"  than  that  which  was  already  declared 
to  be  "perpetual"  they  were  actually  engaged  in  a  work 
the  object  of  which  was  to  pull  down  and  destroy  the  fruits 


THE   GKEAT   KEBELLION.  37 

of  their  own  labor,  instead  of  fortifying  and  strengthen 
ing  what  was  then  universally  cherished  as  an  imperisha 
ble  monument  of  greatness,  achieved  by  the  wisdom  and 
patriotism,  the  toil  and  suffering  of  our  never-to-be-forgotten 
Revolutionary  sires. 

AX   ARGUMENT   AGAINST   DISUNION. 

And,  in  this  connection,  you  will  excuse  me  for  giving  a 
short  extract  from  my  own  speech  delivered  in  Lynchburg 
in  the  campaign  of  I860.  I  then  said,  if  all  other  authori 
ty  should  prove  inconclusive,  "  I  still  appeal  to  the  Constitu 
tion  of  my  country  to  show  that  there  is  no  such  right  as 
the  right  of  secession.  This  Constitution  declares  that 

" '  This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  shall  be  the  su 
preme  law  of  the  land,  and  the  judges  in  every  state  shall 
be  bound  thereby,  any  thing  in  the  Constitution  or  laics  of 
any  state  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.' 

"  Who  adopted  this  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ? 
We,  the  people  of  Virginia,  through  our  representatives  in 
Convention,  are  just  as  much  parties  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  as  to  our  own  State  Constitution.  But 
let  us  go  back  a  little.  Let  us  go  back  to  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  under  which  we  lived  before  the  Constitu 
tion  was  adopted,  and  see  what  we  did  there. 

"My  purpose  is  to  show  you  that  this  is  a  perpetual 
Union,  which  there  is  no  power  to  destroy.  Under  the  old 
Articles  of  Confederation  it  is  provided  '  that  no  two  states 
shall  enter  into  any  alliance  whatever  between  them  with 
out  the  consent  of  Congress,  specifying  accurately  the  pur 
pose  for  which  the  same  is  to  be  entered  into,  and  how 
long  it  shall  continue.'  Again,  Article  13th : 

" '  Every  state  shall  abide  by  the  determination  of  the 


38  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  on  all  questions  which 
by  this  Confederation  are  submitted  to  them :  and  the  Ar 
ticles  of  this  Confederation  shall  be  inviolably  observed  by 
every  state,  AND  THE  UNION  SHALL  BE  PERPET 
UAL.' 

"  And  the  concluding  Article  reads  : 

" '  And  we  do  farther  solemnly  plight  and  engage  the 
faith  of  our  respective  constituents,  that  they  shall  abide  by 
the  determination  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assem 
bled,  on  all  questions  which  by  the  said  Confederation  are 
submitted  to  them.  And  that  the  Articles  thereof  shall  be 
inviolably  observed  by  the  states  we  respectively  represent, 
and  that  the  UNION  SHALL  BE  PERPETUAL.' 

"  There  was  the  compact  between  the  states — there  was 
the  marriage  ceremony  solemnly  performed  in  the  face  of 
the  world,  by  which  we  bound  ourselves  together  for  better 
or  for  worse,  for  richer,  for  poorer,  in  sickness  and  in  health, 
in  prosperity  and  in  adversity,  through  good  and  evil  re 
port,  till  death  do  us  part.  And  under  this  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  it  is  declared  that  '  we  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  in  order  to  form  A  MOKE  PERFECT  UNION,  es 
tablish  justice,  INSURE  DOMESTIC  TRANQUILLITY,  etc.,  etc., 

etc.,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United 
States  of  America.' 

" '  To  make  this  a  more  perfect  Union.'  And  in  what 
respect  did  they  make  it  more  perfect  ?  They  provided  for 
its  perpetuity  by  giving  to  the  government  the  power  to 
enforce  its  laws  and  protect  its  own  existence. 

"  Yes,  but  gentlemen  say  it  is  a  reserved  right !  How 
was  it  reserved?  WJien  was  it  reserved?  Where  was  it 
reserved  ?  It  is  a  reserved  right  in  their  own  imaginations, 
and  theirs  only.  "What  a  calumny  and  libel  upon  the  name 
and  fame  of  the  great  and  good  men  who  made  the  Consti- 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  39 

tution  to  say,  that  when  they  declared  that  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  all  laws  made  under  it,  should  be 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  that  the  judges  of  the 
courts  in  the  several  states  should  be  bound  thereby ;  when 
they  prohibited  you  from  the  right,  even  in  your  organic 
law,  in  the  adoption  of  your  state  Constitution,  to  say  or  do 
any  thing  that  would,  to  any  extent,  conflict  with  any  law 
made  under  it,  that  they  reserved  the  right  to  permit  the 
destruction  of  the  CONSTITUTION  and  all  law  at  any  moment 
it  suited  their  pleasure  to  do  so  !  Why,  when  did  that  right 
begin  ?  Here  I  have  shown  you  it  was  a  perpetual  con 
tract,  that  it  was  never  intended  to  be  dissolved ;  and  yet, 
after  they  had  done  their  work,  one  state,  on  the  very  next 
day,  had  the  right  to  withdraw  and  break  up  the  whole! 
with  or  without  cause  —  they  being  made  judges  of  the 
cause." 

The  tenth  Article  of  the  Amendment  to  the  Constitution 
reads,  "  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by 
the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  states,  are  re 
served  to  the  states  respectively,  or  to  the  people."  It  is 
under  this  reservation  that  the  secession  leaders  claim  the 
constitutional  right  to  break  up  the  government  at  their 
pleasure ;  and  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  article  contains 
two  provisions ;  one  relating  to  the  prohibitions  to  the 
states,  and  the  other  reservations  to  the  states.  It  is  well, 
then,  to  inquire,  what  are  the  powers  reserved,  and  what 
prohibited  ?  The  power  reserved  is  to  legislate  on  all  le 
gitimate  subjects  of  state  legislation  with  which  there  can 
be  no  interference ;  such,  for  example,  as  our  own  domes 
tic  institutions  —  slavery,  for  one  ;  the  solemnization  of 
marriages ;  the  laws  of  descent ;  the  regulation  of  suffrage ; 
the  duties  and  powers  to  be  assigned  to  the  executive,  leg 
islative,  and  judicial  departments  of  the  government,  and  all 


40  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

municipal  or  state  affairs ;  these  powers  -are  reserved  to 
the  states  respectively,  and  there  can  be  no  legitimate  inter 
ference  by  Congress,  or  by  any  other  state  or  power  what 
ever,  provided  they  in  no  manner  conflict  with  that  clause 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  quoted  above  de 
claring  "  this  Constitution,  and  all  laws  made  in  pursuance 
thereof,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land." 

Having  ascertained  what  are  the  powers  reserved,  let  us 
next  see  what  it  is  that  is  prohibited  to  the  states.  First, 
then,  every  state  is  prohibited  from  passing  any  constitu 
tional,  legal,  or  conventional  enactment  that  shall  in  any  de 
gree  conflict  with  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  furthermore  prohibited,  in  express  terms,  that 
any  state  "  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  confeder 
ation  ;  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  coin  money ; 
emit  bills  of  credit ;  make  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver  coin 
a  legal  tender  in  payment  of  debts ;  pass  any  bill  of  attain 
der,  expost  facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of 
contracts,  or  grant  any  title  of  nobility ;  lay  any  impost  or 
duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  such  as  may  be  neces 
sary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws,  and  tliey  shall  be  for 
the  use  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  •  and  no  state 

Shall,  WITHOUT  THE  CONSENT  OF  CONGRESS,  KEEP  TROOPS  Or 

SHIPS  OF  WAR  in  time  of  peace,  ENTER  INTO  ANY 
AGREEMENT  OR  COMPACT  WITH  ANOTHER 
STATE,  or  WITH  A  FOREIGN  POWER,  or  engage  in 
war,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  danger  as 
will  not  admit  of  delay. 

Such,  then,  are  the  reservations  and  prohibitions  con 
tained  in  the  Constitution,  under  which  it  is  claimed  that 
the  power  was  reserved  to  each  state  to  annihilate  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  and  all  law  made  under  it; 
to  enter  into  treaties,  alliances,  and  confederation ;  grant 


THE   GREAT   EEBELLIOX.  41 

letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  and  enter  into  agreements 
and  compacts  with  other  states;  engage  in  war  with  the 
United  States,  and  smash  all  things  up  generally,  and  the 
government  of  the  United  States  in  particular;  such  are 
the  nonsensical  and  absurd  pretensions  of  the  disciples  and 
followers  of  their  great,  impracticable,  selfish,  ambitious, 
and  mischievous  leader,  John  C.  Calhoun. 

I  am  aware  that  a  good  many  honest,  well-meaning  per 
sons  have  been  cheated  into  the  belief  that  in  this  state  the 
right  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  at  pleasure  was  express 
ly  reserved  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution', 
than  which  nothing  could  be  more  fallacious  or  unfounded. 

Upon  this  point  it  can  only  be  necessary  to  quote  the 
letter  of  Mr.  Madison  to  Mr.  Hamilton  in  1787.  The  State 
of  New  York  had  proposed  to  adopt  the  Constitution,  and 
thereby  become  a  member  of  the  Union,  but  upon  the  con 
ditions  of  certain  amendments  to  the  Constitution  ;  and  Mr. 
Hamilton  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Madison,  asking  his 
opinion  whether  New  York  could  come  in  on  the  conditions 
stipulated,  to  which  Mr.  Madison  replied, 

"  My  opinion  is,  that  a  reservation  of  a  right  to  with 
draw,  if  amendments  be  not  decided  on  under  the  form  of 
the  Constitution  within  a  certain  time,  is  a  conditional  rati 
fication  ;  that  it  does  not  make  New  York  a  member  of  the 
new  Union,  and,  consequently,  that  she  could  not  be  received 
on  that  plan.  Compacts  must  be  reciprocal :  this  principle 
would  not  in  such  a  case  be  preserved.  The  Constitution 
requires  an  adoption  IN  TOTO,  AND  FOKEVEK.  It  has  been 
so  adopted  by  the  other  states.  An  adoption  for  a  limited 
time  would  be  as  defective  as  an  adoption  of  some  of  the 
articles  only.  The  idea  of  reserving  a  right  to  withdraw 
was  started  at  Richmond,  and  considered  as  a  conditional 
ratification,  which  was  itself  abandoned  as  worse  than  a  re 
jection." 


42  THE   GEEAT   REBELLION. 

In  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Webster  in  1833,  Mr.  Madison 
says, 

"  I  return  you  my  thanks  for  your  late  very  powerful 
speech  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  It  crushes  nulli 
fication,  and  must  hasten  an  abandonment  of  secession." 

Speaking  in  the  same  letter  of  the  Constitution,  he  says, 

"  It  makes  the  government,  like  other  governments,  to 
operate  directly  on  the  people,  places  at  its  command  the 
needful  physical  means  of  executing  its  powers,  and,  finally, 
proclaims  its  supremacy,  and  that  of  the  laws  made  in  pur 
suance  of  it,  over  the  Constitutions  and  laws  of  the  states ; 
the  powers  of  the  government  being  exercised,  as  in  other 
elective  and  responsible  governments,  under  the  control  of 
its  constituents,  the  people,  and  the  Legislatures  of  the  states, 
and  subject  TO  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  rights  of  the  people  in 
extreme  cases" 

By  reference  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Virginia  Conven 
tion  of  1787,  it  will  be  seen  from  what  this  dangerous  and 
most  unfounded  pretense  has  been  derived.  A  preamble 
was  then  and  there  adopted,  containing  the  following  lan 
guage  : 

"We,  the  delegates  of  the  people  of  Virginia,  elect 
ed  .*.  .  .  .  do,  in  the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  the  people 
of  Virginia,  declare  and  make  known  that  the  powers  grant 
ed  under  the  Constitution,  being  derived  from  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  may  be  resumed  by  them"  (the  people 
of  the  United  States)  "  whenever  the  same  shall  be  pervert 
ed  to  their  injury  or  oppression ;  and  that  every  power  not 
granted  thereby  remains  with  them,  and  at  their  will,"  etc. 

This,  it  will  be  perceived,  is  a  mere  declaration  of  a  phil 
osophical  opinion  expressed  in  a  preamble,  and  which, 
whether  true  or  false,  can  not  modify  or  change  the  effect 
of  the  resolution  following  it.  In  this  case,  however,  it  hap- 


THE   GREAT   EEBELLIOX.  43 

pens  to  be  a  truism  founded  upon  a  universally  recognized 
principle,  to  wit,  that  the  powers  of  the  government  are  de 
rived  from  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  may  be  re 
sumed  by  them — the  people  of  the  United  States — whenever 
these  powers  are  perverted  to  the  injury  or  oppression  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States. 

When  it  can  be  shown  that  the  people  of  South  Carolina, 
or  Virginia,  or  even  of  all  the  Southern  States  combined, 
constitute  the  people  of  the  United  States,  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  waste  time  and  breath,  or  ink  and  paper,  for  the 
discussion  of  this  proposition. 

But  when  you  arrive  at  the  resolution  adopting  the  Con 
stitution,  it  will  be  found  absolute  and  unconditional,  and 
containing  no  reservation  whatever.  The  resolution  is  as 
follows : 

"We,  the  said  delegates,  in  the  name  and  in  behalf  of 
the  people  of  Virginia,  do,  by  these  presents,  assent  to  and 
ratify  the  Constitution  recommended  on  the  17th  day  of 
September,  1787,  by  the  Federal  Convention  for  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  hereby  announcing  to  all  those 
whom  it  may  concern  that  the  said  Constitution  is  binding 
upon  the  said  people,  according  to  an  authentic  copy  hereto 
annexed." 

In  like  manner,  we  hear  a  great  deal  said  about  the 
"sovereignty"  of  the  states.  Now  what  is  the  sovereignty 
of  the  states?  That  the  states  are  supreme,  and  —  if  you 
choose  to  misapply  the  term — are  "  sovereign,"  in  the  exer 
cise  of  all  their  legitimate  powers,  is  true ;  but  no  more  so 
than,  is  a  county  court,  or  a  grand  or  petit  jury,  with  whose 
functions  no  other  power  can  interfere.  What  arc  the 
functions  and  powers  of  sovereignty?  I  presume  it  will 
not  be  denied  that  the  power  to  declare  war ;  make  peace ; 
regulate  commerce;  impose  duties,  imposts,  and  excises; 


44  THE   GEEAT   REBELLION. 

prepare  for  the  common  defense ;  to  coin  money  and  regu 
late  its  value ;  to  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads ;  to 
grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal;  to  provide  and  main 
tain  a  navy ;  to  make  treaties ;  enter  into  alliances,  etc., 
etc.,  are  all  sovereign  powers,  each  one  of  which  can  be  ex 
ercised  by  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  and  not 
one  of  which  can  be  exercised  by  any  state  in  the  Union, 
and  there  never  has  been  a  moment  of  time  when  they 
could. 

What  an  anomaly  it  would  be  to  see  thirty-six  sovereign 
ties,  not  one  of  which  could  have  a  civil  officer  in  its  service, 
from  a  constable  up  to  the  governor,  without  his  taking  an 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  another  government 
which  was  not  sovereign ;  and  that  which  is  not  sovereign 
having  the  service  of  all  its  officers,  domestic  as  well  as  for 
eign,  in  every  state,  not  one  of  whom  was  required  to  swear 
to  support  one  of  the  sovereignties ! 

It  is  an  entire  misapplication  of  the  term  to  apply  "  sov 
ereignty"  to  a  state.  There  is  no  state  in  the  Union  that 
ever  could  exercise  a  sovereign  power,  unless  Texas  (though 
never  a  government  de  jure)  might  constitute  an  excep 
tion.  It  will  not  be  questioned  that  what  are  now  the 
States  were  originally  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain,  and 
it  will  not  be  claimed  that  while  colonies  they  set  up  any 
pretensions  to  sovereignty.  In  1776  the  then  thirteen  colo 
nies  entered  into  a  Declaration  of  Independence  and  com 
mon  compact,  under  the  designation  of  the  "  United  States" 
and  declared  themselves  free,  and,  as  a  united  body,  claim 
ing  the  right  of  the  whole  united,  not  of  each  one,  to  levy 
war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  commerce, 
and  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  independent  states 
may  of  right  do ;  but  it  never  was  pretended  that  any  one 
of  these  states  could  of  itself  exercise  any  one  of  these  pow 
ers  of  sovereignty. 


THE   GEE  AT  REBELLION.  45 

In  1778,  these  colonies,  while  engaged  in  a  common 
struggle  for  independence,  and  five  years  before  their  inde 
pendence,  or  claim  to  the  character  of  states,  was  established, 
entered  into  "Articles  of  Confederation  and  PERPETUAL 
UNION"  under  the  "  style"  of  the  United  States,  and  from 
these  "  Articles  of  Confederation  and  perpetual  Union" 
they  went  into  their  present  form  of  government,  which 
was  adopted,  to  make  that  which  was  already  declared  to 
be  "perpetual"  a  "  more  perfect  Union." 

The  argument  used,  that  the  mother  country,  by  the 
treaty  of  peace  in  1783,  which  recognized  each  state  of  the 
United  States  by  name,  thereby  established  their  sover 
eignty  and  separate  existence,  is  of  no  more  weight  than  it 
would  be  to  claim  the  same  sovereignty  for  each  of  the 
counties  of  what  now  constitutes  West  Virginia,  because 
the  act  creating  the  state  mentioned  by  name  the  counties 
which  composed  the  state. 

When,  where,  and  how,  then,  did  any  state  forming  the 
Union  now  or  originally  ever  exercise,  or  claim  the  right 
to  exercise,  a  sovereign  power  ?  Mr.  Calhouu  himself,  the 
great  leader  of  this  states-sovereignty  party,  which  claims 
every  thing  to  suit  itself,  utterly  repudiated  the  idea  that 
there  could  be  sovereignty  in  the  government,  and  broadly 
asserted  that  all  sovereignty  was  in  the  people  of  the  states, 
united  in  their  federal  Union,  and  not  a  particle  in  the  gov 
ernment.  In  1833  he  said,  "No  one  will  pretend  that  sov 
ereignty  is  in  the  government.  To  make  that  assertion 
would  be  to  go  back  to  the  Asiatic  idea  of  government.  It 
is  scarcely  European,  as  the  most  intelligent  writers  of  the 
globe  have  long  since  traced  sovereignty  to  a  higher  source. 
No,  the  sovereignty  is  not  in  the  government,  it,  is  in  the 
people.  Any  other  conception  is  utterly  abhorrent  to  the 
ideas  of  every  American.  There  is  not  a  particle  of  sover- 


4G  THE    GKEAT   KEBELLION. 

cignty  in  the  government.  The  sovereignty,  then,  is  in  the 
people  of  the  several  states,  united  in  their  federal  Union. 
It  is  not  only  in  them,  but  in  them  unimpaired.  Not  a  par- 
tide  resides  in  the  government." 

Without  assenting  to  this  doctrine  of  Mr.  Calhoun's,  it 
utterly  annihilates,  as  far  as  his  authority  goes,  all  idea  of 
sovereignty  in  the  state  government,  for  he  embraces  all 
governments — -federal,  state,  European,  and  Asiatic. 

Much,  too,  has  been  said  about  the  "coercion  of  a  state." 
No  such  thing  is  known  to  the  theory  of  our  government  as 
the  "  coercion"  of  a  state.  Under  the  Constitution,  the 
government  does  not  operate  on  states  but  upon  the  peo 
ple.  Under  the  old  Articles  of  Confederation,  the  gov 
ernment  operated  upon  states,  and  derived  their  revenue 
from  the  states,  which  was  found  not  to  answer  a  good  pur 
pose  ;  and  one  of  the  distinctive  features  of  the  present 
form  of  government  from  the  Confederation  is  that  it  oper 
ates  on  each  individual  citizen,  and  requires  each  and  every 
citizen  to  obey  the  law ;  and  if  they  resist,  the  law  is  en 
forced,  or  they  are  "  coerced"  to  obedience  by  the  magis 
terial  power  of  the  government ;  and  if  they  resist  by  force 
of  arms,  or  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  controlled 
by  the  magisterial  or  judicial  powers,  such  resistance  be 
comes  treason,  and  must  be  suppressed  by  the  military 
powers  of  the  country.  It  would  be  about  as  difficult  to 
"  coerce"  a  state  as  it  would  be  to  try  and  hang  a  state  for 
treason ;  while  it  is  quite  within  the  powers  ©f  the  gov 
ernment  to  compel  any  citizen  to  obey  the  laws,  as  it  would 
be  first  to  try  and  then  to  hang  him  for  the  treason,  in  tak 
ing  up  arms  to  resist  the  authority  and  overthrow  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States. 


THE    GPtEAT   REBELLION.  47 

AN   IMPORTANT  NOTE. 

July  1, 1864.  I  have  just  read  in  the  Richmond  Sentinel 
of  the  18th  of  June  the  "manifesto"  of  the  Confederate 
Congress,  which  that  paper  announces  to  be  from  the  pen 
of  the  Hon.  William  C.  Rives,  and  that,  by  joint  resolution, 
is  to  be  sent  to  "  our  commissioners  abroad,  to  the  end  that 
the  same  may  be  laid  before  foreign  governments." 

This  extraordinary  document,  coming  from  so  distin 
guished  a  source,  I  think  should  be  given  entire,  and  there 
fore  it  is  inserted  here  without  mutilation  or  curtailment. 

How  far  its  assertions  in  reference  to  the  origin  of  the 
war  can  be  sustained  by  undeniable  historical  facts,  each 
one  can  determine  for  himself;  my  impression  is,  that  they 
are  about  as  well  founded  as  the  predictions  made  as  to  the 
final  result  which  will  ere  long  be  made  manifest  to  all  the 
world.  Here  is  the  MANIFESTO. 

"Manifesto  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America  relative  to  the  existing  war  icith  the  United 
States. 

"The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  ac 
knowledging  their  responsibility  to  the  opinion  of  the  civil 
ized  world,  to  the  great  law  of  Christian  philanthropy,  and 
to  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe,  for  the  part  they  have 
been  compelled  to  bear  in  the  sad  spectacle  of  war  and 
carnage  which  this  continent  has,  for  the  last  three  years, 
exhibited  to  the  eyes  of  afflicted  humanity,  deems  the  pres 
ent  a  fitting  occasion  to  declare  the  principles,  the  senti 
ments,  and  the  purposes  by  which  they  have  been  and  are 
still  actuated. 

"  They  have  ever  deeply  deplored  the  necessity  which  con 
strained  them  to  take  tip  arms  in  defense  of  their  rights  and 


48  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

of  the  free  institutions  derived  from  their  ancestors ;  and 
there  is  nothing  they  more  ardently  desire  than  peace, 
whensoever  their  enemy,  by  ceasing  from  the  unhallowed 
war  waged  upon  them,  shall  permit  them  to  enjoy  in  peace 
the  sheltering  protection  of  those  hereditary  rights  and  of 
those  cherished  institutions.  The  series  of  successes  with 
which  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God,  in  so  signal  a  manner, 
to  bless  our  arms  on  almost  every  point  of  our  invaded 
borders  since  the  opening  of  the  present  campaign,  enables 
us  to  profess  this  desire  of  peace  in  the  interests  of  civiliza 
tion  and  humanity,  without  danger  of  having  our  motives 
misinterpreted,  or  of  the  declaration  being  ascribed  to  any 
unmanly  sentiment,  or  any  distrust  of  our  ability  fully  to 
maintain  our  cause.  The  repeated  and  disastrous  checks, 
foreshadowing  ultimate  discomfiture,  which  their  gigantic 
army,  directed  against  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy,  has 
already  met  with,  are  but  a  continuation  of  the  same  Provi 
dential  successes  for  us.  We  do  not  refer  to  these  success 
es  in  any  spirit  of  vain  boasting,  but  in  humble  acknowledg 
ment  of  that  Almighty  protection  which  has  vouchsafed  and 
granted  them. 

"  The  world  must  now  see  that  eight  millions  of  people, 
inhabiting  so  extensive  a  territory,  with  such  varied  re 
sources  and  such  numerous  facilities  for  defense  as  the  be 
nignant  bounty  of  Nature  has  bestowed  upon  us,  and  ani 
mated  with  one  spirit  to  encounter  every  privation  and  sac 
rifice  of  case,  of  health,  of  property,  of  life  itself,  rather 
than  be  degraded  from  the  condition  of  free  and  independ 
ent  states  into  which  they  were  born,  can  never  be  conquer 
ed.  Will  not  our  adversaries  themselves  begin  to  feel  that 
humanity  has  bled  long  enough ;  that  tears,  and  blood,  and 
treasure  enough  have  been  expended  in  a  bootless  under 
taking,  covering  their  own  land,  no  less  than  ours,  with  a 


THE   GEE  AT   REBELLION.  49 

pall  of  mourning,  and  exposing  them  far  more  than  our 
selves  to  the  catastrophe  of  financial  exhaustion  and  bank 
ruptcy,  not  to  speak  of  the  loss  of  their  liberties  by  the  des 
potism  engendered  in  an  aggressive  warfare  upon  the  liber 
ties  of  another  and  kindred  people  ?  Will  they  be  willing, 
by  a  longer  perseverance  in  a  wanton  and  hopeless  contest, 
to  make  this  continent,  which  they  so  long  boasted  to  be 
the  chosen  abode  of  liberty  and  self-government,  of  peace 
and  a  higher  civilization,  the  theatre  of  the  most  causeless 
and  prodigal  effusion  of  blood  which  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  of  a  virtual  relapse  into  the  barbarism  of  the  ruder 
ages,  and  of  the  destruction  of  constitutional  freedom  by 
the  lawlessness  of  usurped  power? 

"These  are  questions  which  our  adversaries  will  decide 
for  themselves.  We  desire  to  stand  acquitted  before  the 
tribunal  of  the  world,  as  well  as  in  the  eyes  of  omniscient 
justice,  of  any  responsibility  for  the  origin  or  prolongation 
of  a  war  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  age  as  to  the  tradi 
tions  and  acknowledged  maxims  of  the  political  system  of 
America. 

"  On  this  continent,  whatever  opinions  may  have  pre 
vailed  elsewhere,  it  has  ever  been  held  and  acknowledged 
by  all  parties  that  government,  to  be  lawful,  must  be  found 
ed  on  the  consent  of  the  governed.  We  were  forced  to  dis 
solve  our  federal  connection  icith  our  former  associates  by 
their  aggressions  on  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  com 
pact  of  union  icith  them  ;  and  in  doing  so,  we  exercised  a 
right  consecrated  in  the  great  charter  of  American  liberty 
— the  right  of  a  free  people,  when  a  government  proves  de 
structive  of  the  ends  for  which  it  was  established,  to  recur 
to  original  principles,  and  to  institute  new  guards  for  their 
security.  The  separate  independence  of  the  states,  as  sover 
eign  and  co-equal  members  of  the  federal  Union,  had  never 

'  C 


50  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

been  surrendered;  and  the  pretension  of  applying  to  inde 
pendent  communities  so  constituted  and  organized  the  or 
dinary  rules  for  coercing  and  reducing  rebellious  subjects  to 
obedience,  was  a  solecism  in  terms  as  well  as  an  outrage  on 
the  principles  of  public  law. 

"  The  war  made  upon  the  Confederate  States  was,  there 
fore,  wholly  one  of  aggression.  On  our  side  it  has  been 
strictly  defensive.  Born  freemen,  and  the  descendants  of 
a  gallant  ancestry,  we  had  no  option  but  to  stand  up  in  de 
fense  of  our  invaded  firesides,  of  our  desecrated  altars,  of 
our  violated  liberties  and  birthright,  and  of  the  prescriptive 
institutions  which  guard  and  protect  them.  We  have  not 
interfered,  nor  do  we  wish,  in  any  manner  whatever,  to  in 
terfere  with  the  internal  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  states 
arrayed  in  hostility  against  us,  or  with  the  freest  develop 
ment  of  their  destinies  in  any  form  of  action  or  line  of  pol 
icy  they  may  think  proper  to  adopt  for  themselves.  All  we 
ask  is  a  like  immunity  for  ourselves,  and  to  be  left  in  the 
undisturbed  enjoyment  of  those  inalienable  rights  of  '  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness'  which  our  common 
ancestors  declared  to  be  the  equal  heritage  of  all  the  parties 
to  the  social  compact. 

"  Let  them  forbear  aggressions  upon  us,  and  the  war  is  at 
an  end.  If  there  be  questions  which  require  adjustment  by 
negotiation,  we  have  ever  been  willing,  and  are  still  willing 
to  enter  into  communication  with  our  adversaries  in  a  spirit 
of  peace,  of  equity,  and  manly  frankness.  Strong  in  the 
persuasion  of  the  justice  of  our  cause,  in  the  gallant  devo 
tion  of  our  citizen  soldiers,  and  of  the  whole  body  of  our 
people,  and,  above  all,  in  the  gracious  protection  of  Heav 
en,  we  are  not  afraid  to  avow  a  sincere  desire  for  peace  on 
terms  consistent  with  our  honor  and  the  permanent  security 
of  our  rights,  and  an  earnest  aspiration  to  see  the  world 


THE   GEEAT   EEBELLIOX.  51 

once  more  restored  to  the  beneficent  pursuits  of  industry 
and  of  mutual  intercourse  and  exchanges,  so  essential  to  its 
well-being,  and  which  have  been  so  gravely  interrupted  by 
the  existence  of  this  unnatural  war  in  America. 

"  But,  if  our  adversaries,  or  those  whom  they  have  placed 
in  authority,  deaf  to  the  voice  of  reason  and  justice,  steeled 
against  the  dictates  of  both  prudence  and  humanity  by  a 
presumptuous  and  delusive  confidence  in  their  own  num 
bers,  or  those  of  their  black  and  foreign  mercenaries,  shall 
determine  upon  an  indefinite  prolongation  of  the  contest, 
upon  them  be  the  responsibility  of  a  decision  so  ruinous  to 
themselves,  and  so  injurious  to  the  interests  and  repose  of 
mankind. 

"For  ourselves  we  have  no  fear  of  the  result.  The  wild 
est  picture  ever  drawn  of  a  disordered  imagination  comes 
short  of  the  extravagance  which  could  dream  of  the  con 
quest  of  eight  millions  of  people  resolved  with  one  mind  'to 
die  freemen  rather  than  live  slaves,5  and  forewarned  by  the 
savage  and  exterminating  spirit  in  which  this  war  has  been 
waged  upon  them,  and  by  the  mad  avowals  of  its  patrons 
and  supporters  of  the  worse  than  Egyptian  bondage  that 
awaits  them  in  the  event  of  their  subjugation. 

"  With  these  declarations  of  our  dispositions,  our  princi 
ples,  and  our  purposes,  we  commit  our  cause  to  the  enlight 
ened  judgment  of  the  world,  to  the  sober  reflection  of  our 
adversaries  themselves,  and  to  the  solemn  and  righteous  ar 
bitrament  of  Heaven." 

If  this  most  extraordinary  document  had  emanated  from 
any  other  source  in  either  branch  of  the  Confederate  Con 
gress,  it  would  not  have  attracted  my  attention,  nor  would 
any  other  notice  have  been  taken  of  it  than  of  a  thousand 
gasconading,  braggadocio  speeches  delivered  in  that  body, 


52  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

or  thrown  off  to  the  world  in  the  form  of  editorials  or  com 
munications  through  the  public  press.  But,  coming  from  so 
distinguished  a  statesman  as  Mr.  Rives,  whose  name  is  asso 
ciated  with  the  history  of  this  country  not  only  as  a  senator 
of  the  United  States  but  as  a  foreign  representative  to  one 
of  the  first  courts  of  Europe,  it  is  entitled  to  something 
more  than  a  passing  notice. 

It  is  with  the  fifth  paragraph  of  this  "  manifesto"  begin 
ning  with  the  words  "On  this  continent ,  whatever  opinions 
may  have  prevailed  elsewhere"  etc.,  etc,  that  I  propose  to 
deal. 

If  it  be  true  that  the  right  of  secession,  as  exercised  by 
Virginia  and  other  Southern  States,  was  "a  right  conse 
crated  in  the  great  charter  of  American  liberty"  and  if  it 
be  true  that  the  separate  independence  of  the  states,  as  sov 
ereign  and  coequal  members  of  the  federal  Union,  had  never 
been  surrendered,  and  the  pretension  of  applying  to  inde 
pendent  communities  so  constituted  and  organized  the  or 
dinary  rules  for  coercing  and  reducing  rebellious  subjects 
to  obedience,  was  a  solecism  in  terms  as  well  as  an  outrage 
on  the  principles  of  public  law,"  I  say,  if  there  is  truth  in 
these  declarations,  then  I  can  not  stand  acquitted  to  myself 
or  before  any  enlightened  community  for  the  position  I  oc 
cupy,  or  for  the  course  I  have  pursued,  or  for  the  grounds 
I  have  taken  in  this  work. 

Feeling  this,  and  knowing  that  by  far  the  ablest  produc 
tion  of  Mr.  Rives's  life  was  to  be  found  in  his  earnest  and 
able  defense  of  the  proclamation  of  General  Jackson  and  of 
the  Force  Hill  in  1833, 1  lost  no  time  in  turning  to  that  very 
lucid,  logical,  and  conclusive  argument  for  comfort  and  re 
lief  from  the  unenviable  position  in  which  his  manifesto  had 
placed  me  as  well  as  others  who  occupied  the  same  grounds ; 
and  the  honorable  gentleman  must  bear  with  nre  while,  in 


THE   GKEAT   REBELLION.  53 

my  own  defense,  I  avail  myself  somewhat  freely  of  the  co 
gent  arguments  used  by  him  on  that  memorable  occasion. 

On  the  14th  of  February,  1833,  on  a  bill  then  pending 
before  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  commonly  known  as 
the  "Force  JBill"  Mr.  Rives  said, 

"  Most  of  the  questions  involved  in  the  discussion  of  the 
bill  now  under  consideration  have  sprung  up  during  the  pe 
riod  of  my  absence  from  the  country ;  and  the  short  period 
which  has  elapsed  since  my  return  has  afforded  me  neither 
time  nor  opportunity  for  a  detailed  examination  of  them. 
I  bring  to  them,  therefore,  no  other  resources  of  argument 
or  illustration  than  those  settled  principles  and  fundament 
al  notions  which  are  rooted  in  the  mind  of  every  Amer 
ican  citizen  in  regard  to  the  Constitution  of  his  country. 
....  In  this  state  of  things  we  are  called  upon  to  say 
if  the  government  of  the  United  States  shall  acquiesce  in 
this  open  defiance  and  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  Union, 
without  taking  any  step  whatever  for  their  enforcement. 
For  myself,  I  am  free  to  say  that  I  do  not  thus  read  my 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  I  do 
not  thus  understand  my  duty  to  my  country,  or  the  in 
terest  and  honor  of  my  own  state The  example 

would  inflict  a  mortal  wound  on  the  Constitution.  The 
government  would  be  thenceforward  virtually  dissolved, 
and  we  should  inevitably  fall  backward  into  anarchy  and 
confusion  of  the  'Articles  of  Confederation,'  if,  indeed, 
after  such  an  example  of  weakness,  the  states  should  con 
tinue  connected  by  any  tie  whatever.  For  one,  therefore, 
I  feel  myself  constrained,  by  the  highest  considerations  of 
duty,  to  give  my  assent  to  such  measures  as  may  be  nec 
essary  and  proper  to  provide  for  the  execution  of  the  laws 

while  they  remain  tmrepealed Whatever  may  be 

the  true  doctrine  in  regard  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  states 


54  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

individually,  it  is  unquestionably  clear  that,  while  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  Union  is  vested  in  its  legislative,  executive, 
and  political  departments,  the  actual  sovereign  power  re 
sides  in  the  several  states,  who  created  it  in  their  separate 
and  distinct  political  character.  But,  by  an  express  provi 
sion  of  the  Constitution,  it  may  be  amended  or  changed  by 
three  fourths  of  the  states ;  and  each  state,  by  assenting  to 
the  Constitution  with  this  provision,  has  surrendered  its 
original  rights  as  a  sovereign,  which  made  its  individual 
consent  necessary  to  any  change  in  its  political  condition, 
and  has  placed  this  important  power  in  the  hands  of  three 
fourths  of  the  States,  in  which  the  sovereignty  of  the  Union, 
under  the  Constitution,  does  now  actually  reside."  .... 
The  plain  result  is  that  the  paramount  or  sovereign  power  is 
not  in  the  people  of  any  one  state,  but  in  three  fourths  of  all 

the  states It  has  become  fashionable  of  late  to  deny 

that  there  is  any  sovereignty  in  the  United  States  (I  speak, 
of  course,  of  the  United  States  as  a  political  community, 
and  not  of  the  government  of  the  United  States),  and  to 
claim  for  the  states  separately  an  absolute,  complete,  and 
unqualified  sovereignty,  to  all  intents  and  purposes  what 
ever.  Sir,  this  is  a  novelty  unknown  to  the  founders  of  the 
Constitution,  and  has  sprung  up  in  the  hot-bed  of  excited 
local  politics.  At  the  period  of  the  adoption  of  the  Consti 
tution,  it  was  distinctly  made  known  and  universally  under 
stood,  that  to  the  extent  to  which  sovereignty  was  vested  in 
the  Union  that  of  the  states  severally  was  relinquished  and 

diminished Now,  sir,  let  us  see  in  what  light  it  was 

presented  to  the  people  in  reference  to  this  question  of  state 
sovereignty  by  its  distinguished  advocates  and  expounders, 
the  writers  of  the  * Federalist?  Nothing  Would  have  been 
better  calculated  to  procure  its  ready  adoption  by  the  states 
than  to  have  told  them  that  it  left  their  sovereignty  entirely 


THE    GEEAT   REBELLION.  55 

unimpaired.  But,  sir,  its  honest  and  enlightened  advocates, 
the  writers  of  the  '  Federalist?  attempted  no  such  imposi 
tion  on  the  good  sense  of  the  people.  They  told  them  dis 
tinctly  that  '  sovereignty  in  the  Union,  and  complete  in 
dependence  in  the  members,  are  things  repugnant  and  ir 
reconcilable.' — Federalist,  No.  15 In  rapidly  glanc 
ing  over  this  celebrated  collection,  I  find  the  expression, 
4  residuary  sovereignty  of  the  states,'  as  distinguished  from 
a  complete  and  undiminished  sovereignty,  used  in  three 
several  numbers  (Nos.  39,  43,  and  62),  all  written  by  Mr. 
Madison,  whose  guidance,  I  confess,  I  always  follow  with 
peculiar  confidence,  for  no  man,  from  the  relation  in  which 
he  stands  to  the  Constitution,  can  be  supposed  to  be  more 
thoroughly  imbued  with  its  true  philosophy.  It  is  a  re 
markable  circumstance,  as  evincing  the  unvarying  fidelity 
of  Mr.  Madison's  mind  to  this  fundamental  truth  of  a  partial 
surrender  of  sovereignty  by  the  states,  that,  at  the  distance 
of  more  than  ten  years  from  the  publication  of  the  '  Feder 
alist?  in  his  celebrated  report  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  of 
1799,  he  again  uses  the  same  form  of  expression — 'the  re 
siduary  sovereignty  of  the  states.'  Sir,  that  report,  in  rec 
ognizing,  as  it  does,  in  express  terms, c  the  sovereignty  of 
the  United  States?  as  well  as  in  attributing  to  the  several 
states  a  residuary  sovereignty  only,  shows  that  the  idea  of 
an  absolute  and  undiminished  sovereignty  still  remaining 
in  the  states  was  as  little  entertained  by  the  fathers  of  the 
political  church,  from  which  the  senator  from  South  Carolina 
professes  to  derive  his  tenets,  as  by  the  founders  and  orig 
inal  advocates  of  the  Constitution The  Republicans 

of  '98  and  '99,  Mr.  President,  never  contended  that  the  states 
retained,  under  the  Constitution,  an  absolute  and  undimin 
ished  sovereignty ;  that  they  still  possessed  what  they  had 
given  up;  that  the  whole  was  not  diminished  by  the  sub- 


56  THE   GKEAT  KEBELLION. 

traction  .of  a  part.  But  they  contended  that  all  the  sover 
eignty  which  had  not  been  voluntarily  surrendered  to  the 
Union  was  inviolably  reserved  to  the  states ;  that  the  states 
are  sovereign  within  their  several  spheres  as  the  Union  is 
in  the  sphere  marked  out  to  it,  and  that  the  harmony  of  the 
whole  system  is  only  to  be  preserved  by  each  power  revolv 
ing  in  its  proper  orbit.  It  was  reserved  for  modern  times 
to  assert  that  eccentric  and  lawless  state  sovereignty  which 
'shoots  madly  from  its  sphere'  to  arrest  the  movements 

and  to  nullify  the  acts  of  the  federal  authority Sir, 

this  argument  is  plainly  founded  on  a  total  misconception 
of  the  nature  of  our  present  political  system,  and  of  the 
characteristic  differences  between  it  and  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation.  From  the  moment  of  the  adoption  of  the  pres 
ent  Constitution,  a  direct  relation  is  created  between  the 
government  of  the  United  States  and  the  citizen.  The  au 
thorities  of  the  Union  no  longer  act  through  the  states  by 
requisition,  as  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  but  di 
rectly,  on  persons  and  things,  by  its  own  laws.  The  great 
object  of  the  change  of  system  was  to  render  the  govern 
ment  of  the  Union  entirely  independent  of  the  action  of 
states  in  the  performance  of  its  high  constitutional  functions. 
For  this  purpose  it  was  not  only  invested  with  the  power 
of  making  ta>s,  but  of  executing  them  by  regular,  judicial, 
and  executive  organs,  and  by  the  physical  force  of  the  coun 
try  also,  if  need  be ;  for  it  will  not  be  forgotten  that  among 
the  powers  vested  in  Congress  is  that  of 'providing  for  call 
ing  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union.'  To 
mark  still  more  unequivocally  the  intention  of  the  new  Con 
stitution  to  place  the  government  of  the  Union,  in  the  exer 
cise  of  its  powers,  above  the  control  of  individual  states,  it 
is  expressly  declared  that  the  '  Constitution  and  law  of  the 
United  States,  which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof, 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  57 

etc.,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  any  thing  in  the 
Constitution  or  laws  of  any  state  to  the  contrary  notwith 
standing.'  ....  That  the  interposition  of  a  state  acting  in 
her  sovereign  capacity  through  a  convention  of  the  people, 
as  in  the  case  of  South  Carolina,  is  of  no  more  avail  to  ar 
rest  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  than  an 
interposition  in  her  ordinary  political  capacity,  is  apparent 
from  the  language  of  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which 
asserts  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States, '  any  thing  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of 
any  state  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.'  The  Constitu 
tion  of  a  state  is  always  the  act,  of  a  state  in  her  highest 
sovereign  capacity ;  and  if  -it  can  oppose  no  obstacle  to  the 
laws  of  the  Union,  as  is  here  declared,  it  follows  that  neither 
the  sovereign  nor  the  legislative  interposition  of  a  state  is 
sufficient,  under  the  Constitution,  to  defeat  a  law  of  the 
United  States.  If  any  thing  farther  were  wanting  to  show 
that  the  interposition  of  a  state  can  not,  under  the  Constitu 
tion,  absolve  the  citizen  from  his  obligations  to  the  Union, 
conclusive  proof  is  furnished  by  the  rejection  of  the  amend 
ment  proposed  in  the  Convention  by  Mr.  Luther  Martin, 
which  was  brought  to  the  view  of  the  Senate  a  few  days 
since  by  the  honorable  senator  from  Delaware  (Mr.  Clay 
ton).  Mr.  Martin,  with  the  express  view,  as  he  told  us,  of 
securing  the  citizens  of  the  respective  states  against  the  ef 
fects  of  their  responsibility  to  the  United  States,  where,  in 
obedience  to  the  authority  of  their  own  state,  they  should 
oppose  the  laws  of  the  Union,  submitted  a  proposition  in  the 
following  words,  as  an  amendment  to  the  article  in  the  Con 
stitution  concerning  treason :  '  Provided  that  no  act  or  acts 
done  by  one  or  more  of  the  states  against  the  United  States, 
or  by  any  citizen  of  any  one  of  the  United  States,  under  the 
authority  of  any  one  or  more  of  the  said  states,  shall  be 

C  2 


58  THE    GKEAT   REBELLION. 

deemed  treason,  or  punished  as  such,  etc.'  This  proposi 
tion,  sir,  was  rejected ;  and  the  inference  drawn  from  the 
fact  by  Mr.  Martin  is  irresistible,  that  it  was  intended  to 
preserve  the  constitutional  authority  of  the  Union  over  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  in  full  force  and  effect,  whatever 

might  be  done  or  enjoined  by  a  state  to  the  contrary 

Sir,  proud  as  I  am  of  the  title  of  citizen  of  Virginia,  grateful 
as  I  am  for  the  unmerited  favor  which  that  honored  mother 
has  shown  to  me,  I  yet  feel,  with  the  Father  of  the  country, 
that  'the  just  pride  of  patriotism  is  exalted'  by  the  more 
comprehensive  title  of  citizen  of  the  United  States ;  that 
title  which  gives  me  a  share  in  the  common  inheritance  of 
glory  which  has  descended  to  us  from  our  revolutionary 
sages,  patriots,  and  heroes ;  that  title  which  enables  me  to 
claim  the  names  of  the  Rutledges,  the  Pinckneys,  and  the 
Sumters  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  Hancocks,  the  Adams's, 
and  Otis's  of  Massachusetts,  and  all  the  other  proud  names 
which  have  illustrated  the  annals  of  each  and  all  of  these 
states  as  compatriot  with  my  own.  I  have  thus,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  reviewed  the  fundamental  tenets  of  that  new  school 
of  constitutional  law  which  has  sprung  up  within  the  last 
four  or  five  eventful  years  of  our  political  history.  I  have 
endeavored  to  show  that  they  have  no  foundation  whatever 
in  any  just  view  of  the  Constitution,  that  they  are  directly 
at  war  with  contemporary  understanding  and  expositions 
of  its  founders,  and  that  they  derive  no  countenance  what 
ever  from  the  principles  of  that  genuine  republican  school 
which  re-established  the  Constitution  in  its  purity  after  the 
temporary  perversion  to  which  it  had  been  subjected. 
These  modern  doctrines,  I  do  firmly  believe,  are  in  their 
tendency  utterly  subversive  of  that  happy  system  of  gov 
ernment,  the  preservation  of  which  is  not  only  the  sole  se 
curity  for  liberty  with  us,  but  the  last  hope  of  freedom 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  59 

throughout  the  world  .....  But  one  thing  is  certain,  a 
state  can  never,  as  South  Carolina  has  done,  directly  and 
formally  annul  a  law  of  the  United  States,  without  an  open 
departure  from  the  Constitution  and  a  total  renunciation 
of  all  its  obligations  .....  What,  then,  was  the  conduct 
of  Virginia  in  the  memorable  era  of  '98  and  '99  ?  She  sol 
emnly  protested  against  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  as  '  pal 
pable  and  alarming  infractions  of  the  Constitution  ;'  she 
communicated  that  protest  to  the  other  states  of  the  Union, 
and  earnestly  appealed  to  them  to  unite  with  her  in  a  like 
declaration  that  this  deliberate  and  solemn  expression  of 
the  opinions  of  tjje  states,  as  parties  to  the  constitutional 
compact,  should  have  its  proper  effect  upon  the  councils  of 
the  nation  in  procuring  a  revision  and  repeal  of  the  obnox 
ious  act.  This  was  '  the  head  and  front  of  her  offending, 
nothing  more.'  The  whole  object  of  the  proceeding  was, 
by  the  peaceful  force  of  public  opinion,  embodied  through 
the  organ  of  the  state  Legislatures,  to  obtain  a  repeal  of  the 
laws  in  question,  not  to  oppose  or  arrest  their  execution 
while  they  remained  unrepealed.  That  this  was  the  true 
spirit  and  real  purpose  of  the  proceeding  is  abundantly  man 
ifested  by  the  whole  of  the  able  debate  which  took  place  in 
the  Legislature  of  the  state  on  the  occasion.  All  the  speak 
ers  who  advocated  the  resolutions,  which  were  finally  adopt 
ed,  distinctly  placed  them  on  that  legitimate  constitutional 
ground.  I  need  only  refer  to  the  emphatic  declaration  of 
John  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  the  distinguished  mover  and  able 
champion  of  the  resolutions.  He  said,  '  the  appeal  was  to 
public  opinion  —  if  that  is  against  us  we  must  yield.'  The 
same  sentiment  was  avowed  and  maintained  by  every  friend 
of  the  resolutions  throughout  the  debate  .....  There  is 
no  proceeding  whatever,  m  any  part  of  this  affair,  against 
South  Carolina.  The  government  of  the  United  States,  in 


or  rnc 

S 


60  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

the  execution  of  the  laws,  can  have  no  proper  reference  to 
states.  It  acts  upon  individuals,  not  upon  states,  as  I  have 
already  had  occasion  abundantly  to  show;  and  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  when  it  declared  that  nothing 
in  the  Constitution  or  laics  of  a  particular  state  should  con 
trol  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  has  not  permitted  the 
government  of  the  Union,  in  executing  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  to  inquire  if  opposition  to  them  is  or  is  not 
authorized  by  a  particular  state.  If  the  laws  be  opposed 
by  '  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  overcome  in  the  ordi 
nary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,'  there  is  the  same  right, 
under  the  Constitution,  to  execute  the  laics  by  calling  in  the 
aid  of  the  military  power,  whether  such  combinations  be 
authorized  by  a  law  of  a  state  (which  the  Constitution  has 
declared  in  such  a  case  to  be  a  nullity),  or  whether  they  be 
purely  voluntary.  I  have  not,  then,  the  slightest  difficulty 
then  in  regard  to  the  right  and  power  of  the  government  to 
employ  the  physical  force  of  the  country,  in  a  case  like  the 

present,  if  it  should  be  necessary I  would  make  no 

new  provision  of  this  sort  (the  Force  Bill)  until  an  overt  act 
had  been  committed ;  and  then  I  verily  believe,  with  Mr. 
Jefferson,  that  a  republican  government  would  show  itself 
as  strong,  in  a  good  cause,  as  any  on  earth.  c  At  the  call  of 
the  law  every  good  citizen  would  fly  to  the  standard  of  the 
law,  and  the  defense  of  public  order  would  be  considered 
by  every  citizen  as  his  individual  concern.'  ....  I  do,  in 
my  conscience,  believe  that  the  preservation  of  the  Union  is 
our  only  security.  If  we  are  to  be  broken  into  separate 
confederacies,  constant  wars  and  collisions  with  each  other 
must  ensue,  out  of  which  will  grow  up  large  military  estab 
lishments,  perpetual  and  burdensome  taxes,  and  an  over 
shadowing  executive  power;  and,  amid  these  deleterious 
influences,  what  hope  can  there  be  that  liberty  would  sur- 


THE    GKEAT   REBELLION.  61 

vive  ?  It  is  here,  I  confess,  that  I  see  the  danger  of  military 
despotism,  and  not  where  the  imagination  of  the  senator 
from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhoun)  has  found  it.  Is  not  the 
actual  condition  of  South  Carolina  in  this  respect  an  im 
pressive  admonition  to  us  on  the  subject — the  whole  state 
converted  into  a  camp,  the  executive  and  other  authorities 
armed  with  dictatorial  powers,  the  rights  of  conscience  set 
at  naught,  and  an  unsparing  proscription  ready  to  disfran 
chise  one  half  of  her  population  ?  Sir,  this  is  but  a  prefigu- 
ration  of  the  evils  and  calamities  to  which  every  portion  of 
this  country  would  be  destined  if  the  Union  should  be  dis 
solved.  Let  us,  then,  rally  around  that  sacred  Union,  fixing 
it  anew,  and  establishing  it  forever  on  the  immutable  basis 
of  equal  justice,  of  mutual  amity  and  kindness,  and  an  ad 
ministration  at  once  firm  and  paternal.  Let  us  do  this, 
and  we  shall  carry  back  peace  to  our  distracted  country, 
happiness  to  the  affrighted  fireside,  restore  stability  to  our 
threatened  institutions,  and  give  hope  and  confidence  once 
more  to  the  friends  of  liberty  throughout  the  world.  Let  us 
do  this,  and  we  shall  be,  in  short,  what  a  bountiful  Provi 
dence  has  heretofore  made  us,  and  designed  us  ever  to  re 
main,  the  freest  and  happiest  people  under  the  sun." 

Such  were  the  opinions,  and  such  the  principles  of  the 
honorable  and  distinguished  gentleman  (Mr.  Rives)  in  1833, 
as  the  representative  of  Virginia  democracy,  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  when  enforcing  the  proclamation  of 
General  Jackson  and  the  passage  of  the  "Force  Bill"  which 
placed  the  whole  military  and  naval  power  of  the  United 
States  at  the  disposal  of  the  President  for  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion  in  South  Carolina,  and  for  enforcing  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  on  the  citizens  of  that  state,  who 
were  by  an  ordinance  of  convention  resisting  their  execu 
tion.  Such  were  also  the  principles  then  indorsed  and  sus- 


62  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

tained  by  the  Democracy  of  this  state.  Such  were  the 
principles  that  I  too  then  sustained,  in  common  with  the 
Democracy  (which  were  the  only  measures  of  General  Jack 
son's  whole  administration,  as  far  as  I  recollect,  that  I  did 
support,  but  from  which  I  could  not  withhold  my  judg 
ment  or  my  assent).  Such  were  the  principles  by  which  I 
have  lived,  and  by  which  I  expect  to  die ;  and  if  I  do  not 
stand  vindicated  and  justified  for  the  part  I  have  taken  dur 
ing  the  progress  of  this  rebellion  by  the  recognized  con 
gressional  champion  of  secession,  and  author  of  the  Confed 
erate  "Manifesto"  designed  as  a  justification  of  the  rebel 
lion  before  the  foreign  powers  of  the  globe,  then  should  I 
stand  rebuked,  "  though  Moses  and  the  prophets  were  to  rise 
from  the  dead"  for  my  vindication. 

But  again,  Mr.  Rives,  in  his  congressional  "  Manifesto," 
uses  this  most  extraordinary  language : 

"  The  war  made  upon  the  Confederate  States  was,  there 
fore,  wholly  one  of  aggression.  On  our  side  it  has  been 

strictly  defensive We  had  no  option  but  to  stand  in 

defense  of  our  invaded  firesides,  of  our  devastated  altars,  of 
our  violated  liberties  and  birthright,  and  of  the  prescriptive 
institutions  which  guard  and  protect  them." 

When  Mr.  Rives  penned  and  made  himself  responsible  to 
the  world  for  this  extraordinary  statement,  had  he  forgot 
ten  that  he  was  one  of  five  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
state  to  represent  her  in  the  Peace  Congress  that  met  in 
Washington,  and  that  that  Congress  of  the  nation  offered 
to  the  South  terms  of  compromise  and  conciliation,  with 
which  he  himself  was  satisfied,  and  recommended  for  adop 
tion  to  the  Convention  then  in  session,  but  which  every 
Democrat  in  that  body  refused  to  accept?  Had  he  forgot 
ten  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  its  seizure,  to 
gether  with  all  the  arms,  ammunition,  and  other  property 


THE   GEEAT   EEBELLION.  G3 

of  the  United  States  that  had  been  forcibly  taken  possession 
of  by  the  Confederate  government,  before  the  authorities 
of  the  United  States  had  raised  a  hand  in  its  own  defense  ? 
or  does  Mr.  Rives  regard  these  acts  of  aggression  and  war 
as  "  strictly  defensive"  on  the  part  of  the  South,  and  as  un 
justifiably  aggressive  and  hostile  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  ? 

But  it  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  give  you  a  treatise  on 
this  fruitful  theme,  but  to  point  out  the  manner  by  and  pur 
pose/or  which  the  country  has  been  rashly,  inconsiderate 
ly,  and  wickedly  plunged  into  this  horrible  civil  war,  by  the 
short-sighted,  blundering,  and  stupid  action  of  the  demons 
of  Democracy,  who  have  miscalculated  in  this  the  opera 
tions  and  effects  of  their  own  work,  as  they  have  in  all  else 
they  have  undertaken. 

The  Force  Bill  was  passed  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  by  a  vote  of  149  to  48 ;  and  in  the  Senate  by  32  to  1 
only. 

CALIIOUN   BAEELY   ESCAPES   HANGING. 

General  Jackson  was  in  earnest,  and  honest  in  his  threat 
at  that  day  to  have  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  was  then  a  senator 
of  the  United  States,  immediately  arrested,  and  "  hung  in 
chains"  for  treason ;  and  he  would,  no  doubt,  through  the 
intervention  of  the  law,  have  seen  this  most  anxious  and 
patriotic  desire  of  his  executed,  but  that  Mr.  Clay,  who,  al-. 
though  a  violent  opponent  of  Jackson's  administration,  yet 
a  patriotic  supporter  of  his  measures  in  this  momentous 
question  of  secession  —  even  on  the  very  day  that  Mr.  Cal 
houn  had  been  notified  by  Mr.  Benton  that  he  was  to  be  ar 
rested — in  an  unfortunate  moment  of  generosity  and  mag 
nanimity,  and  in  a  rather  too  earnest  desire  for  pacification, 
staved  off  a  resort  to  steps  of  violence  by  bringing  forward 


64  THE   GREAT   BEBELLIOX. 

his  celebrated  measures  of  compromise,  called  and  ever  since 
known  as  "the  Compromise  of  1832,"  which  served  as  a 
pretext  for  Calhoun  and  his  state  to  back  down  from  the 
difficulties  in  which  they  had  entangled  themselves  and  out 
raged  the  country ;  and  thus  the  question  was  for  the  time 
settled. 

I  say  it  was  an  unfortunate  moment  at  which  Mr.  Clay 
interposed,  for,  but  for  this  compromise,  an  example  would 
at  that  day  have  been  made  by  General  Jackson  which 
would  have  crushed  secession,  with  all  its  advocates,  into 
the  earth;  and  all  the  consequences  of  this  rebellion,  the  end 
of  which  is  aot  yet,  nor  its  calamities  in  the  future  yet  ap 
preciated,  would  have  been  spared  not  only  to  the  present 
generation,  but  it  could  never  again  have  raised  its  horrid 
head  on  this  continent,  no  matter  who  had  been  constitu 
tionally  chosen  by  the  people  to  preside  over  their  desti 
nies. 

But  South  Carolina,  from  that  day  to  the  present,  has 
never  ceased  to  feel  her  degradation,  and  never  ceased  to 
be  a  discontented,  querulous  disturber  of  the  public  peace. 
She  has  been  at  all  times  ready  for  a  revolt  whenever  she 
felt  that  the  time  had  arrived  when  any  portion  of  the 
South  would  step  in  to  fight  her  battles,  shield  her  from 
danger,  and  protect  her  against  the  enforcement  of  the  law 
by  the  general  government ;  and  from  that  time  the  politi 
cians  of  that  state,  as  a  general  thing,  have  differed  only  in 
degree,  the  larger  portion,  led  on  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  being  in 
favor  of  immediate  dissolution,  the  rest  waiting  only  for 
"  co-operation"  by  other  Southern  States,  and  they  were, 
therefore,  themselves  divided  and  classed  as  "  secessionists" 
and  "  co-operationists." 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  65 

SECESSION   NOT   KILLED. 

But  although  such  a  decisive  death-blow  was  given  in 
1833  to  the  right  of  a  state  or  states  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union,  yet  the  fire  was  only  smothered,  the  embers  still 
burned ;  and  her  leading  men  have  been  quietly ',  but  con 
stantly  and  actively,  engaged  from  that  day,  now  nearly 
thirty  years  since,  in  sowing  seeds  of  discontent  through 
out  the  Southern  States. 

For  the  accomplishment  of  this  end,  it  became  necessary 
to  hit  upon  some  expedient,  or  to  select  some  more  exciting 
subject  upon  which  the  South  could  be  brought  to  act  as  a 
unit,  and  not  as  a  divided  section  as  on  the  tariff  question, 
and  by  that  means  combine  the  entire  Southern  States  in 
one  harmonious  whole ;  and  as  the  Democracy  was  largely 
in  the  ascendant  throughout  the  South,  it  became  necessary 
that  the  whole  South  should  become  demobratized.  This 
being  the  first  great  object  in  view,  it  required  no  great  sa 
gacity  or  foresight  to  see  that  there  was  but  one  question, 
or  one  subject,  on  which  common  interest  would  beget 
community  of  feeling  in  every  Southern  State,  and  that  was 
the  question  of  slavery,  and  this  could  only  be  used  for  that 
purpose  by  exciting  the  apprehensions  of  the  slaveholder 
as  to  the  security  of  his  property  ;  and  how  could  this  alarm 
be  kept  up  otherwise  than  by  adopting  such  a  course  as 
would  unavoidably  excite  and  increase  the  hostility  of  the 
anti-slavery  interest  of  the  South,  and,  by  constant  agita 
tion,  keep  the  political  caldron  ever  at  fever  heat  ?  The 
argument  was  this  :  By  keeping  up  a  constant  agitation  of 
the  slavery  question,  we  can  sooner  or  later  force  the  Whig 
party  in  the  South  to  co-operate  with  the  Democracy  on  all 
sectional  issues,  of  which  we  will  take  care  to  have  an 
abundant  supply  on  hand,  and  thus  in  time  the  whole  South 


66  THE   GEEAT   REBELLION. 

will  become  democratized.  Accordingly  we  find  that,  in 
an  address  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina 
in  1835^  he  recommends  a  change  of  issue  from  the  tariff 
to  the  slavery  question,  and  that  that  question  must  be 
driven  home  upon  the  people  of  the  North ;  in  what  man 
ner  they  did  drive  this  question  home  upon  the  people  of 
the  North  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel. 

By  the  more  rapid  increase  of  population  in  the  North, 
the  power  is  gradually  fading  away  from  the  South ;  and 
when  the  time  shall  arrive  that  the  Democracy  can  no  lon 
ger  hold  their  power  under  the  national  government,  it  will 
require  but  little  art  or  persuasion  addressed  to  the  selfish 
ness  of  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  to  join  in  breaking  up 
the  old  government,  and  perpetuating  their  power  and  our 
own  under  a  Southern  Confederacy ;  how  well  they  have 
succeeded  in  the  scheme,  at  least  so  far  as  the  effort  is  con 
cerned,  we  all  too  well  know  and  too  painfully  feel. 

THE   DISUNION   SCHEME  OF   THE   DEMOCRACY. 

I  set  up  no  pretensions  to  superior  sagacity,  but  I  had 
been  but  a  short  time  in  Congress,  mixing  freely  with  the 
public  men  of  the  country,  before  I  saw  the  whole  scheme 
as  plainly  as  it  may  be  seen  by  others  now ;  and  from  the 
first  I  set  myself  against  it,  and  resolved  to  resist  them  at 
every  step  of  their  unhallowed  proceedings,  and  make  a 
willing  sacrifice  of  myself,  if,  by  so  doing,  I  could  save  the 
Union  and  rescue  my  country  from  ruin ;  and  therefore  it 
was  that  I  have  been  found  uniformly,  on  every  sectional 
issue  raised  by  the  Democracy,  not  against  the  South,  but 
in  opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  Democratic  party,  un 
til  I  brought  upon  myself  the  unlimited  denunciation  of  the 
Democratic  press  and  politicians,  and  not  un frequently  the 
suspicion  of  some  of  my  own  party  of  a  want  of  fidelity  to 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  67 

Southern  interests.  And  I  may  here  ask  emphatically,  on 
what  occasion  have  I  failed  to  raise  my  voice  to  its  utmost 
pitch  in  warning  the  people  that  the  object  of  each  success 
ive  issue  was  the  ultimate  dissolution  of  the  Union  ?  This 
solemn  conviction,  so  deeply  impressed  upon  my  mind,  will 
furnish  the  key  to  my  whole  public  course.  It  was  to  pro 
tect  ^  as  far  as  I  could,  and  save  the  Union  ;  to  prevent  a 
civil  war  of  an  exterminating  character,  which  I  saw  and 
knew  must  attend  any  effort  at  dissolution.  Others  there 
were  who  looked  at  these  issues  only  to  ascertain  how  far 
it  would  affect  their  personal  popularity  at  home — whether 
it  would  retain  this  one  in  the  Legislature,  or  that  one  in 
Congress,  or  secure  a  nomination  for  this  or  that  political 
preferment;  while  I  claim  to  have  paid  no  regard  to  the 
fact  whether  it  kept  either  them  or  myself  in  place.  The 
Union  was  the  god  of  my  idolatry  on  earth ;  and  from  its 
preservation  I  never  permitted  my  eye  to  be  turned  for  a 
moment.  You  will  excuse  me  for  this  brief  episode  in  re 
gard  to  myself,  as  it  affords  a  defense  and  justification  of 
my  past  course  which  none  may  make  for  me  hereafter; 
and  as  I  have  quitted  public  life  forever,  I  may  have  no 
other  opportunity  of  making  for  myself. 

Slavery,  then,  was  to  be  the  pretext^  the  perpetuation  of 
power  the  real  object  of  every  movement  that  was  made 
on  the  political  chess-board  by  Mr.  Calhoun  and  his  follow 
ers  from  the  year  1833  down  to  the  fatal  day  when  South 
Carolina,  on  the  20th  of  December,  1860,  during  the  Dem 
ocratic  administration  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  and  nearly  three 
months  before  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  rushed  head 
long  into  secession,  denied  the  authority  and  defied  the 
power  of  the  United  States,  and  commenced  hostilities  by 
firing  upon  the  steamer  "  Star  of  the  West,"  bearing  the 
flag  of  the  United  States,  and  repeating  these  hostilities  by 


68  TIIE   GEEAT   REBELLION. 

again  attacking  the  United  States  troops  in  Fort  Sumter, 
which  precipitated  the  whole  South  into  this  fatal  rebel 
lion. 

THE   SECESSION   PROGRAMME. 

The  first  steps  taken  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  end 
in  view,  that  is  to  say,  in  getting  up  excitement  and  agita 
tion  on  slavery,  was  by  the  adoption  of  what  is  so  well 
known  through  the  country  as  the  21st  rule;  by  which  the 
sacred  and  inalienable  right  of  petition  wras  denied  to  the 
North  on  all  questions  connected  with  slavery,  which  at 
once  produced,  as  was  clearly  foreseen  it  would,  a  perfect 
furor  throughout  the  North,  and  this  it  was  that  gave  the 
first  impetus  toward  the  regular  organization  of  a  formida 
ble  Abolition  party  in  all  the  Northern  States.  This  is  just 
what  the  leaders  desired,  for  as  long  as  that  rule  remained 
in  force,  thousands  of  petitions  were  poured  into  Congress 
in  the  very  wantonness  of  excitement  that  was  created  ;  and 
upon  the  presentation  of  every  such  petition  the  South  was 
warned,  with  solemn  voice,  of  the  danger  to  slavery,  and 
the  determination  of  the  North  to  destroy  it  —  by  legisla 
tion  if  possible,  but  by  force  if  necessary. 

During  the  long  protracted  struggle  that  ensued,  every 
rash  and  intemperate  speech  that  was  made  in  Congress  or 
out  of  it  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  by  the  Northern  rep 
resentatives  was  sent  all  over  the  South,  while  others  equal 
ly  rash  and  intemperate,  and  made  for  the  occasion  and  the 
purpose  in  the  South,  were  hurried  off  to  the  North ;  and 
each  successive  year  saw  additional  exasperation  and  bitter 
ness  mixed  up  with  the  never-ending  discussions  that  were 
studiously  encouraged,  until  the  simple-minded  people  on 
either  side  really  felt  that  these  artful  and  designing  politi 
cians  gave  utterance  to  the  general  sentiment  of  the  section 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  69 

they  represented ;  and  many  honest,  well-meaning,  and  pa 
triotic  men  persuaded  themselves  that  if  a  peaceful  separa 
tion  could  be  effected,  it  would  be  to  the  advantage  of  both 
parties  that  it  should  be  brought  about;  hence  the  labori 
ous  effort  that  was  made  in  this  state  to  persuade  the  peo 
ple  that  secession  was  a  measure  of  peace,  and  that  the  only 
way  by  which  it  was  possible  to  insure  peace  was  for  Vir 
ginia  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  South  Carolina.  What  a 
wicked  and  willful  perversion  of  truth !  for  the  parties  that 
so  represented  knew  it  was  false.  What  fatal  credulity 
and  misplaced  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  people,  their 
condition,  before  this  war  terminates,  will  illustrate. 

But  what  measure  of  execration  is  in  store  for  those  who 
practiced  the  deception  when  the  war  fever  subsides  ?  At 
present  the  nervous  system  of  all  men,  and  women  too,  is 
alike  stretched  to  its  utmost  tension,  and  none  stop  to  count 
the  cost ;  but  when  the  war  is  over,  and  the  raging  fever 
subsides,  and  men  look  aghast  at  children,  brothers,  and  fa 
thers  slain ;  mothers,  wives,  and  sisters  left  broken-hearted ; 
fortunes  sacrificed ;  homes  abandoned  or  destroyed ;  the 
country  every  where,  that  the  tread  of  either  army  has  been 
felt,  presenting  one  general  scene  of  devastation  and  ruin ; 
the  slave  property  that  has  either  made  its  escape  or  been 
carried  off,  with  no  labor  left  to  carry  on  the  ordinary  pur 
suits  of  agriculture;  with  the  country  groaning  under  a 
weight  of  debt  heretofore  unknown  to  our  people ;  with  a 
system  of  taxation  twice  tenfold  greater  than  ever  before, 
while  the  means  of  paying  them  are  diminished  in  the  same 
proportion,  it  can  not  be,  in  the  nature  of  things  and  in  the 
nature  of  man,  but  that  the  inquiry  will  be  universal,  Why  is 
this?  For  what  good  purpose  have  I  and  my  country  been 
thus  reduced  to  ruin?  What  was  I  suffering  from  before 
the  war  ?  and  if  at  all,  how  have  those  sufferings  been  re- 


70  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

lieved  ?  Who  are  the  authors  of  all  this  mischief  and  mis 
ery  ?  and  what  did  they  propose  or  hope  to  accomplish  by 
their  folly  and  madness  ?  And  when  it  is  seen  that  the 
whole  and  sole  object  was  the  perpetuation  of  power  for  a 
party  under  a  Southern  Confederacy,  when  they  found 
they  could  no  longer  retain  it  under  a  national  Confedera 
cy,  what  measure  of  indignation,  I  may  ask,  is  in  store  for 
them  ?  Now,  my  dear  sir,  I  beg  you  to  mark  well  one  pre 
diction  that  I  here  venture  to  make,  and  that  is,  that  more^ 
especially  and  in  particular  will  this  be  the  case^  if  the 
Southern  States  should  ultimately  succeed  in  separating 
themselves  from  all  connection  with  the  United  States, 
which  will  then  become  a  deadly  hostile  and  extremely  an 
noying  and  dangerous  neighbor ;  and  when  the  Border 
States  will  necessarily  have  large  standing  armies  constant 
ly  quartered  on  their  people,  to  protect  their  frontiers  from 
the  continual  John  Brown  raids  that  will  be  made  upon 
them,  while  it  would  require  a  navy  equal  to  that  of  the 
British  Empire  to  protect  their  commerce  on  the  seas. 

The  war  itself  has  been  calamitous  enough,  but  believe 
me,  when  I  will  tell  you  a  separation  of  the  South  from  the 
United  States,  with  their  independence  recognized,  would 
be  far  more  disastrous  to  their  interests,  and  future  prosper 
ity  and  happiness,  than  the  war  itself  has  been  or  will  be, 
bad  as  it  surely  must  and  will  be  in  the  end. 

But  to  return  to  the  action  of  the  Democratic  party  on 
the  subject  of  slavery.  This  letter  is  written  at  your  ur 
gent  solicitation  ;  and  as  I  have  undertaken  the  task  of  en 
lightening  you  on  the  subject  (as  one  who  has  been  as  fully 
identified  with  all  the  movements  of  parties  in  this  country 
for  the  last  thirty  years  as  any  other  one  man  now  alive), 
you  will  excuse  me  if  I  tax  your  patience  by  calling  your 
attention  to  the  following  extracts  taken  from  my  letter  of 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  71 

January,  1859,  addressed  to  certain  leading  members  of  our 
State  Legislature,  who  did  me  the  honor  to  seek  my  views 
on  the  then  existing  affairs  of  the  country.  The  extract  is 
lengthy,  but  if  you  want  to  understand  the  history  of  this 
war  thoroughly,  its  perusal  will  be  worth  the  time  it  will 
take  you  to  read  it.  This  was  one  of  the  late  warnings  I 
gave  the  people  of  the  designs  of  the  Democracy  for  re 
taining  the  money-places  and  power  of  the  government  in 
their  own  hands,  and  the  uses  they  had  made  of  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery  for  that  purpose. 

THE   DEMOCRACY   REVIEWED. 

The  following  are  the  extracts  referred  to : 
It  may  not  be  either  uninteresting  or  uninstrnctive  to  re 
view  briefly  the  history  of  the  past,  as  far  as  the  slavery 
question  is  connected  with  the  politics  of  the  country ;  and 
here,  once  for  all,  I  wish  to  say  that/whenever  I  use  the 
term  "  Democracy,"  I  mean  to  apply  it  only  to  the  leading 
politicians  or  bossmen  of  that  party,  who  cut  out  the  work 
for  the  masses  to  execute.  Occasionally  it  happens  that  a 
head  journeyman  is  permitted  to  come  into  their  councils, 
but  the  apprentices  are  never  consulted,  and  they,  at  last, 
have  more  at  stake,  have  more  honesty,  patriotism,  and  good 
common  sense  than  the  men  by  whom  they  suffer  themselves 
to  be  misled. 

For  the  first  twelve  years  after  the  formation  of  our  gov 
ernment,  its  administration  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Father 
of  his  Country  and  John  Adams,  the  elder.  In  the  year  1800 
a  revolution  in  the  politics  of  the  country  occurred,  chiefly 
through  the  activity  and  energy  of  Aaron  Burr,  who  was 
the  legitimate  father  of  Democracy,  and  not  Mr.  Jefferson, 
who  was  only  the  beneficiary  of  Burr's  work,  as  all  will  ad 
mit  who  will  read  Parton's  life  of  Burr ;  and  whether  the 


72  THE   GEEAT   KEBELLIOX. 

disunion  portion  of  the  Democratic  party  have  inherited 
their  treasonable  principles  from  their  distinguished  progen 
itor  will  be  left  for  each  one  to  determine  for  himself.  The 
Washingtonian  party  were  called  Federalists,  because  they 
originally  favored  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  under 
which  the  present  federal  government  was  formed ;  and 
those  unfriendly  to  the  Constitution  and  to  its  adoption 
were  then  called  Republicans,  and  are  now  called  Demo 
crats.  But,  from  the  time  of  this  revolution — which  was 
inaugurated  on  the '4th  of  March,  1801 — down  to  the  4th 
of  March,  1841,  a  period  of  forty  years,  the  Republican  or 
Democratic  party  held  undisputed  sway  and  almost  unre 
strained  control  over  the  destinies  of  the  country,  with  the 
single  interruption  of  four  years,  from  1825  to  1829 — during 
which  time  it  was  in  the  hands  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 

Those  who  recollect  the  violent  and  stormy  passion  ex 
hibited  at  that  day  at  the  loss  of  their  long-enjoyed  power, 
with  the  fierce  and  bitter  denunciation  and  invective  that 
characterized  the  opposition  to  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Adams  (which  was  one  of  the  most  able,  conservative,  pros 
perous,  and  economical  that  the  country  has  ever  enjoyed 
from  its  earliest  foundation),  and  of  those  flagitious  charges 
of  "bargain  and  corruption?"*  against  one  of  the  purest  and 
most  unselfish  patriots  (as  all  of  every  party  now  admit) 
that  the  nation  has  boasted  since  the  days  of  Washington, 
together  with  the  desperation  and  unscrupulous  means  re 
sorted  to  for  the  recovery  of  power  that  marked  the  period 
referred  to,  will  admit  that  nothing  has  since  occurred  that 
will  serve  as  an  analogy.  The  Democracy  succeeded,  and 
General  Jackson  was  inaugurated  in  March,  1829  ;  and  then 
began  the  reign  of  terror — then  commenced  for  the  first 
time  that  universal  system  of  proscription  under  which  de 
votion  to  Democracy  and  partisan  services  in  elections  were 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  7  3 

held  to  be  the  only  passports  to  power,  and  the  only  tests 
of  fitness  for  office,  from  the  highest  to  the  most  humble  in 
the  government ;  then  the  system  was  inaugurated  by  which 
every  opponent  to  Democracy  was  to  be  annihilated,  and 
every  man's  character  was  to  be  assailed  and  blackened  who 
did  not  bow  down  and  worship  at  the  shrine  of  Jacksonism, 
which  was  another  term  for  Democracy.  And  for  eight 
years — ay,  even  long  after  his  retirement  from  public  life, 
a  "  hurrah  for  Jackson"  was  the  only  answer  deemed  nec 
essary  to  the  most  potent  arguments  against  the  most  law 
less  and  unconstitutional  acts  of  aggression  and  usurpation 
of  power.  During  all  this  time  the  numerical  strength  of 
the  country  had  been  gradually  but  rapidly  increasing  in  the 
North  and  diminishing  in  the  South,  and  yet,  for  thirty-six 
years,  the  Southern  Democracy  had  steadily  persisted  in 
putting  none  other  than  Southern  men  in  the  presidency. 
Under  this  state  of  things  Northern  politicians  were  becom 
ing  restive.  The  policy  of  the  North  and  the  South  essen 
tially  differed  at  this  time  on  the  subject  of  protection  to 
domestic  manufactures  and  the  currency;  and  [to  counteract 
this  increasing  influence  on  the  part  of  the  North,  and  the  \ 
popularity  of  those  questions,  certain  leading  politicians,  of 
whom  Mr.  Calhoim  was  at  the  head,  felt  the  necessity  of  ; 
adopting  some  new  device  for  the  preservation  and  perpet-  i 
nation  of  Southern  Democratic  ascendency,  and  that  device  I 
Uvas,  to  use  the  question  of  slavery  as  a  great  political  en- 
'gine,  by  which  the  South  was  to  be  kept  united,  and  by  the 
divisions  which  the  distribution  of  spoils  and  power  among 
the  Northern  Democrats  would  create,  the  power  would  be 
retained  in  the  hands  of  Democracy,  as  they  supposed,  for 
long  years  to  come ;  and  the  first  scene  in  this  new  drama 
opened  with  a  denial  of  the  right  of  petition  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  which  was  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the 

D 


74  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

foundation  on  which  the  present  Abolition  party  has  been 
erected.  This  was  the  first  step  toward  strengthening  De 
mocracy,  by  uniting  the  South  and  dividing  the  North,  and 
most  fatally  has  it  worked  in  the  end.  But,  in  the  mean 
time,  how  many  in  the  South  have  been  cajoled  or  driven 
into  their  ranks  by  the  eternal  cry  that  slavery  was  in  dan 
ger,  and  that  the  Democracy  was  the  only  national  party 
that  could  save  it,  and  from  an  apprehension  that  they  might 
be  regarded  as  disloyal  to  the  South,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
enumerate. 

Mr.  Van  Buren  being  the  special  pet  of  General  Jackson, 
the  Democracy  dared  not  oppose  his  will,  and  in  1836,  for 
the  first  time,  they  yielded  to  the  necessity  of  conferring  the 
high  distinction  of  a  nomination  on  a  "Northern  man  with 
Southern  principles  y"  and  but  for  the  shameful  wraste  and 
extravagance,  the  enormous  peculations  and  corrupt  prac 
tices  that  prevailed  and  were  connived  at,  and  rather  re 
warded  than  rebuked  during  his  administration,  the  slavery 
question  and  its  consequent  agitation  might  have  prolonged 
their  power  to  an  indefinite  period.  But  this  it  was  that 
led  to  the  policy  of  denouncing  every  man  in  the  South  as 
an  Abolitionist,  no  matter  what  his  interest  in  slave  prop 
erty,  no  matter  what  the  evidence  of  his  patriotism  or  fidel 
ity  to  the  Constitution,  no  matter  what  the  extent  of  his 
services  to  the  public,  who  did  not  bend  the  knee  to  the 
god  of  their  idolatry,  which  was  brazen-faced  Democracy. 
And  this  policy,  then  established,  it  is  that  has  induced 
those  who  have  no  interest  in  the  institution  themselves, 
and  who  are  in  very  many  cases  not  likely  to  have  such  an 
interest  at  any  future  day,  and  who  care  nothing  for  it  far 
ther  than  that  it  will  contribute  to  the  success  of  Democ 
racy,  to  take  upon  themselves  the  prerogative  of  assuming 
the  lead  in  its  defense  over  everv  slaveholder  of  the  South, 


X. 


THE    GREAT   KEEELLIOX.  75 

and  of  branding  every  man  of  mark  or  note  opposed  to  their 
misrule-  as  unfaithful  to  the  South,  and  a  sympathizer,  an 
aider  and  abettor  of  the  Abolition  party,  unworthy  the  con 
fidence  and  support  of  a  Southern  state. 

In  1840,  General  Harrison,  an  upright,  honest,  patriotic 
man,  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  nominated  by  the  Whigs. 
He  was  at  once  branded  throughout  the  state  of  his  nativ 
ity  and  the  South  as  an  Abolitionist,  while  his  competitor, 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  was  held  up  as  a  patron  saint  of  the  "  pecul 
iar  institution."  But  the  charge  against  General  Harrison 
proved  to  be  of  no  avail  ;  the  disreputable  device  failed  to 
accomplish  its  end  ;  the  indignation  of  the  country  had  been 
aroused  against  the  administration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and 
he  was  swept  with  the  force  of  a  tornado  from  power.  This 
wTas  the  second  time  that  in  forty-four  years  the  Democracy 
had  been  overthrown.  They  stood  aghast  and  dismayed  at 
the  result  ;  they  felt  that  every  hope  was  gone  ;  the  last  and 
strongest  card  had  been  played,  and  the  game  had  been  lost. 
In  thirty  days  from  his  inauguration  General  Harrison  sud 
denly  died,  and  the  estate  fell  to  the  heir  apparent,  the  Vice- 
president,  a  man  whose  vanity  and  ambition  being  readily 
approached  and  easily  excited,  was  in  an  incredibly  short 
time  won  over  to  those  who  had  but  a  few  months  before 
been  his  bitterest  revilers,  and  he  turned  his  back  on  the 
friends  who  had  elevated  him  to  power  and  to  fame.  At 
once  the  hopes  of  the  Democracy  revived.  By  an  unlooked- 
for  act  of  Providence  on  the  one  hand,  and  an  act  of  unpar 
alleled  treachery  on  the  other,  they  found  themselves  again 
in  possession  of  the  government  ;  but  how  to  retain  it  was 
the  point.  Agitation  of  the  slavery  question  must  be  kept 
up  in  some  form,  and  they  struck  upon  the  expedient  of  an 
nexing  a  foreign  government  to  the  United  States  ;  not  for 
the  purpose  of  extending  and  strengthening  the  institution 


70  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

of  slavery,  but  of  extending  and  strengthening  the  institu 
tion  of  Democracy ;  for  in  the  late  election  General  Harrison 
had  carried  eight  Southern  States  and  seventy-eight  South 
ern  electoral  votes,  which  must  be  recovered,  or  their  power 
was  gone  forever.  Slavery  could  not  be  strengthened  by  its 
extension  into  new  territory,  but  Democracy  might,  by  in 
creasing  the  political  power  of  the  South,  which  was  under 
the  absolute  control  of  Democracy.  As  an  army  of  one 
hundred  thousand  men  in  a  compact  body  is  stronger  and 
more  capable  of  defending  and  protecting  itself  than  if  di 
vided  into  a  hundred  parts  of  one  thousand  each,  which  may 
by  an  inferior  force  be  cut  up  in  detail,  so  is  slavery,  when 
confined  to  the  fifteen  states  in  which  it  exists  by  the  Con 
stitution  and  local  law  of  the  states,  far  stronger  than  if  it 
were  scattered  over  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States, 
when  it  too  would  be  cut  up  in  detail,  and  no  vestige  of  it 
would  be  left  in  twenty  years. 

Upon  this  issue  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  the  agita 
tion  of  the  question  of  slavery,  they  not  only  cheated  Mr. 
Van  Buren  out  of  his  nomination  that  the  people  desired, 
but  they  again  succeeded  in  placing  a  Southern  Democrat 
in  the  chair  over  Mr.  Clay,  another  native  son  of  Virginia, 
and  a  citizen  of  Kentucky,  who  was  the  owner  of  a  large 
body  of  slaves,  but  who  was  nevertheless  bitterly  denounced 
as  an  Abolitionist.  So  flushed  were  they  with  the  unexpect 
ed  victory  they  had  achieved  over  the  foremost  man  of  all 
the  land,  and  so  elated  at  the  success  of  this  new  issue,  that 
they  were  determined  to  press  the  matter  of  acquisition  still 
farther  in  time  for  the  campaign  of  1848;  and,  utterly  re 
gardless  of  all  precedent  or  constitutional  restraint,  they  ac 
quired  and  admitted  Texas  as  one  of  the  states  of  this  Union 
by  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  which,  as  a  mere  act  of  or 
dinary  legislation,  is  liable  at  any  time  to  be  repealed ;  for 


THE    GEEAT   REBELLION.  77 

in  la\v  it  was  null  and  void  from  the  beginning,  for  the  rea 
son  that  the.  Constitution  gave  no  power  to  the  Legislature 
to  enter  into  a  contract  with  a  foreign  government  for  the 
purchase,  sale,  or  surrender  of  its  territory.  In  truth,  the 
power  did  not  exist  any  where;  but  there  was  a  precedent 
in  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  for  acquiring  territory  by  the 
treaty-making  power,  for  which  Mr.  Jefferson  subsequently 
suggested  the  propriety  of  an  amendment  of  the  Constitu 
tion  ;  so  that,  if  that  joint  resolution  should  be  repealed  to 
morrow,  Texas  would  no  longer  legally  be  a  member  of  this 
confederacy,  although  practically  it  would  have  no  effect  on 
her  status  as  a  state.  I  only  refer  to  this  question  to  show 
to  what  extremities  the  Democracy  resorted  for  slavery  is 
sues  to  control  presidential  elections. 

But  Texas  answered  the  purposes  of  1844.  Having 
dodged  the  two -third  vote  required  for  its  admission  by 
treaty^  they  were  in  hot  haste  to  get  up  a  new  issue  for 
the  campaign  of  1848,  and  they  struck  upon  the  expedient  ?x 
of  having  a  war  with  Mexico  "  to  conquer  a  peace,"  and 
"  for  indemnity  for  the  past  and  security  for  the  future," 
which  would  inevitably  lead  to  the  acquisition  of  additional 
territory,  and  necessarily  to  the  question  of  the  extension 
of  slavery  into  it,  which  would  as  infallibly  be  resisted  by 
the  North  as  it  would  be  claimed  and  insisted  on  by  the 
South.  And  this  it  was  that  led  to  the  introduction  of  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,  to  be  applied  to  any  territory  that  might 
be  acquired  from  Mexico ;  but  they  were  quite  as  artful  in 
dodging  the  war-making  power  as  they  had  been  before  in 
dodging  the  treaty-making  power ;  for  they  kn£W  the  war- 
making  power  could  not  be  induced  to  make  a  declaration 
of  war,  for  the  reason  that  we  had  no  cause  of  complaint 
against  Mexico,  while  she  had  ground  of  complaint  against 
us  for  annexing  a  territory  the  title  to  which  she  had  never 


78  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

relinquished,  but  always  claimed,  and  whose  independence 
had  been  asserted  only,  but  never  fully  established ;  so  they 
managed  through  Mr.  Polk,  just  elected,  to  send  a  fleet  of 
observation  to  the  coast  of  Mexico  and  an  army  to  Corpus 
Christi,  which  was  acknowledged  to  be  "  the  most  western 
point  now  (then]  occupied  by  Texas"  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  the  Rio  Grande — all  of 
which  intermediate  territory  was  then  acknowledged  by 
the  President,  Secretary  of  War,  and  our  Minister  to  Mex 
ico,  Mr.  Donaldson,  to  belong  to  Mexico.  After  waiting  at 
Corpus  Christi  long  enough  to  see  that  Mexico  did  not 
mean  to  make  war  upon  us,  this  little  army  was  marched 
across  to  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande,  a  fort  erected,  and 
our  guns  were  pointed  upon  the  Mexican  town  of  Matamo- 
ros ;  and  thus  was  the  war  commenced  without  the  author 
ity  or  knowledge  of  the  war-making  power,  to  prepare  the 

way  for  the  slavery  issue  in  the  campaign  of  1848. 

********* 
********* 

General  Taylor  was  elected  as  the  candidate  in  opposi 
tion  to  General  Cass,  and  although  he  was  said  to  have 
been  the  owner  of  some  two  or  three  hundred  slaves,  he 
too,  in  turn,  was  vehemently  denounced  as  an  Abolitionist 
not  fit  to  be  trusted  by  the  South ;  nor  is  it  probable  he 
would  have  been  trusted,  but  for  the  division  of  a  portion 
of  the  Northern  Democracy  in  favor  of  Mr.  Van  Bnren, 
who,  to  resent  his  defeat  in  the  Convention  of  1844,  had  by 
this  time  made  an  exhibition  of  his  "  Southern  principles" 
not  very  much  to  the  taste  of  his  former  admirers  in  the 
South,  and  ran  as  a  Free-soil  candidate.  Here,  then,  all 
their  issues  had  thus  failed  in  1848;  the  twenty-first  rule, 
the  cry  of  abolition,  the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  Mexican 
War,  had  all  availed  them  nothing,  and  for  the  third  time 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  79 

the  "  sceptre  had  departed  from  Judali."  Tliis  the;y_  could 
no  longer  stand,  and  what  was  tlieh^ next  resort?  Why, 
nothing  short  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  and  the  organi 
zation  of  a  Southern  confederacy,  in  which  their^  title  to 
power  would  be  perpetual  and  omnipotent,  and  we  poor 
devils  of  the  Whig  party  Avere  to  be  made  the  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  our  hard  task-masters  ex 
cept  on  the  condition  of  bending  the  knee  to  Baal ;  this  cry 
of  disunion  was  hushed  and  trodden  under  foot  by  the  happy 
influence  of  the  compromises  of  1850,  which  they  sternly 
resisted  to  the  end,  and  rather  than  submit  to  which  they 
called  a  convention  at  Nashville  for  the  purpose  of  initia 
ting  a  movement  in  favor  of  dissolution ;  that  failing,  and 
finding  these  measures  were  overwhelmingly  popular  with 
the  people,  they  wheeled  to  the  right  about,  claimed  the 
compromises  as  their  own  sacred  work,  put  up  their  candi 
date  from  New  Hampshire  on  the  platform  of  the  Compro 
mise  Measures,  swore  he  was  a  better  Southern  man,  and 
more  to  be  relied  on  for  his  devotion  and  faithful  adherence 
to  those  compromises  as  a  final  settlement  of  the  question 
than  General  Scott,  another  native  of  Virginia,  whom  they 
denounced  also  as  a  radical  Abolitionist,  and  subject  to  the 
influence  and  control  of  Abolitionists,  and  they  carried  ev 
ery  Southern  state  against  him  except  three — Maryland, 
Tennessee,  and  Kentucky. 

It  was  by  these  means,  and  by  a  resort  to  such  expe 
dients,  that  they  were  enabled,  by  making  a  foot-ball  for 
party  of  the  slavery  issue  and  turning  it  into  a  sectional 
party  question,  to  succeed  at  all — always  expressing  doubt 
and  distrust  of  every  Southern  man  who  did  not  agree  with 
their  general  policy  of  government,  and  confiding  in,  trust 
ing  to,  and  coalescing  with  every  man  of  the  North  whose 
natural  and  educational  instincts  were  opposed  to  slavery, 


80  THE    GKEAT   KEBELLION. 

if 'they  would  only  do  the  one  needful  thing,  and  that  was, 
to  help  them  to  money ^place^  and  power. 

Seeing  the  success  with  which  this  sectional  pro -slavery 
party  had  played  their  game,  by  keeping  the  South  general 
ly  united  upon  the  slavery  question  as  a  political  issue  for 
retaining  power,  it  was  not  unnatural  that  the  Northern 
politicians,  having  a  large  majority  of  the  electoral  vote  in 
the  Northern  States,  and  which  had  been  steadily  increas 
ing,  should  have  made  a  political  hobby  of  the  anti-slavery 
side  of  the  question,  and  have  used  their  exertions  to  unite 
the  North  in  opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery  for  the 
purpose  of  acquiring  power.  How  far,  or  how  soon  they 
wrould  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  ascendancy  over  the 
Southern  Democracy,  is  questionable,  if  Democracy  had  been 
gifted  with  common  prudence  or  common  honesty ;  but  the 
supreme  folly  of  that  party  in  1854,  in  order  to  make  anoth 
er  new  slavery  issue  for  the  election  of  1856,  in  breaking 
down  the  Missouri  Compromise,  in  order  to  force  slavery 
into  territory  devoted  to  freedom,  and  which  had  been  hal 
lowed  by  time,  and  recognized  by  the  whole  country  as  a 
bargain  and  compact  sacred  and  inviolate  as  the  Constitu 
tion  itself,  was  the  last  grain  that  broke  the  camel's  back. 
It  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  whole  North ;  it  opened 
their  eyes  to  the  aggressions  of  the  Democratic  party  in 
the  South ;  Northern  politicians  seized  upon  the  occasion, 
and  using  .with  adroitness  the  instruments  thus  placed  in 
their  hands,  have  at  last  succeeded  in  beating  down  South 
ern  Democracy  with  their  own  weapons  and  at  their  own 
game;  and  thus  the  whole  story  respecting  the  slavery  is 
sue  is  plainly  and  fairly  told.  It  has  been  used  by  both 
parties  for  political  purposes ;  by  one,  for  the  purpose  of 
retaining,  the  other,  for  acquiring  money,  place,  and  power ; 
and  while  the  leaders  on  both  sides  have  excited  their  fol- 


THE    GEEAT   REBELLION.  81 

lowers  to  a  condition  of  unreasonable  pretension  and  de 
mand,  they  are  sitting  hob-nob  at  Washington,  dining, 
drinking  wine,  cracking  nuts,  and  cracking  jokes  together, 
as  familiarly  and  unconcerned,  and  as  careless  and  indiffer 
ent  about  results  growing  out  of  the  agitation  they  have 
created,  beyond  its  immediate  effect  upon  parties,  as  if  nev 
er  a  slave  had  been  heard  of  in  the  country.  Thus  has 
Southern  Democracy  lost  the  game  and  the  stakes  played 
for ;  and  now  they  call  upon  us,  the  conservative  Whigs  of 
the  South,  whom  they  have  treated  as  worse  than  aliens, 
whose  counsels  they  have  spurned,  whose  fidelity  they  have 
derided,  whose  remonstrances  against  making  a  party  and 
sectional  issue  of  slavery  they  have  contemned,  whose  pa 
triotism  they  laughed  at,  and  whose  loyalty  they  have  de 
nounced  ;  after  all  this,  in  the  hour  of  their  humility  and 
defeat,  they  call  upon  us  for  aid  which,  in  the  hour  of  their 
triumph  and  pride,  they  scoffed  at  and  rejected  with  dis 
dain  ;  failing  in  which,  they  threaten  to  tear  down  the  fair 
est  fabric  of  government  ever  erected  by  human  hands.  I 
can  only  say,  if  they  get  no  aid  until  they  get  it  from  me, 
their  patience  will  be  exhausted,  unless  they  have  an  in 
terminable  supply ;  for  doomsday  might  crack,  and  they 
would  still  be  found  without  it.  It  has  been  under  their 
control  that  the  country  has  been  brought  to  its  present  de 
plorable  and  disgraceful  condition  in  every  aspect  in  which 
it  can  be  viewed.  They  have  shown  themselves  to  be  ut 
terly  unworthy  and  incompetent  to  manage  the  affairs  of 
the  nation,  because  each  one  has  been  managing  for  himself. 
Let  them  be  set  aside,  and  let  some  other  party  be  called 
to  the  helm  of  State,  and  let  them  howl,  and  rave,  and  "  tear 
their  passions  to  tatters"  at  the  loss  of  money,  place,  and 
power,  which  they  have  so  long  enjoyed  and  so  wildly 
abused. 

D  2 


82  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

Is  there  any  truth  or  sincerity  in  the  declarations  made 
on  the  floor  of  Congress  and  in  the  public  presses  by  the 
Democracy  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  in  danger? 
Let  us  look  for  one  moment  at  their  declarations,  and  then 
at  their  actions,  and  every  man,  with  brains  or  without 
them,  must  at  once  become  satisfied  that  it  is  the  merest 
hypocrisy,  trickery,  and  jugglery  for  political  effect,  for 
money,  place,  and  power,  that  was  ever  played  off  on  the 
credulity  of  sensible  men. 

THE   REBELLION   FORESHADOWED. 

By  the  foregoing  extracts  I  have  shown  you  how  and  for 
what  purpose  the  subject  of  slavery  was  kept  in  constant 
agitation  and  in  increased  peril  by  those  who  professed  to 
be  its  most  devoted  champions,  and  the  only  true  friends 
of  the  South.  They  have  shown  you,  too,  how  and  for  what 
purpose  Texas  was  hurried  into  the  Union,  in  outrageous 
violation  of  every  constitutional  impediment  and  without  a 
precedent  for  its  justification.  I  was  one  of  those  who 
made  strenuous  opposition  to  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and 
this  was  another  occasion  on  which  I  raised  a  voice  of 
warning  to  the  people.  I  was  the  first  man  in  the  United 
States  who  made  public  opposition  to  it  at  the  time,  to  the 
manner  it  was  acquired.  I  had  learned  through  a  private 
source  that  a  treaty  was  then  being  negotiated  by  Mr. 
Tyler  and  his  prime  minister  (Mr.  Upshur),  by  which  Texas 
was  to  be  annexed  to  the  United  States.  I  immediately 
left  Washington,  came  home  to  Richmond,  and  in  a  speech 
delivered  at  the  African  Church  disclosed  the  fact,  and  took 
strong  grounds  against  it.  I  then  went  on  to  New  York, 
and  there  at  the  Tabernacle  also  was  the  first  to  inform  the 
people  of  that  city  of  the  design  of  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Tyler,  and  then  and  there  foretold  the  danger  to  which 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  83 

the  Union  would  be  exposed  by  the  ratification  of  such  a 
treaty  at  that  time,  and  in  the  condition  that  Texas  then  oc 
cupied.  Allow  me  to  give  you  an  extract  or  two  from  my 
New  York  speech,  delivered  on  the  12th  of  April,  1844,  and 
from  a  letter  written  subsequently  to  one  of  my  former  con 
stituents  (Mr.  Hackett,  of  Louisa),  which  letter  was  pub 
lished  in  the  papers  of  that  day  through  the  country.  In 
the  speech  I  said,  as  taken  from  the  New  York  papers  of 
that  day,  "And  now,  fellow -citizens,  I  approach  a  graver 
and  more  serious  question ;  one  which  strikes  at  the  very 
root  of  the  government,  and  can  not  fail  to  stir  up  from  its 
utmost  depths  the  very  foundations  of  society.  I  mean  this 
secret  and  clandestine  attempt  to  annex  Texas  to  the  United 
States,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  to  annex  the  United 
States  to  Texas  —  a  question,  in  my  judgment,  the  magni 
tude  of  which  no  man  can  over-estimate.  If  accomplished, 
that  it  will  lead  to  the  disturbance  of  our  harmony,  the  dis 
traction  of  our  people,  and,  sooner  or  later,  to  the  dismem 
berment  of  this  government,  I  have  no  shadow  of  doubt. 
That  the  Union  of  these  States  will  be  hazarded  by  its  suc 
cess,  is  enough  to  deter  me  from  giving  it  my  sanction  or 
approval.  I  am  a  Union  man !  I  am  no  Southern  man 
with  Northern  principles.  I  am  a  Southern  man  with  na 
tional  principles ;  and  if  it  ever  falls  to  my  lot  to  be  sacri 
ficed  for  any  political  act  of  my  life,  God  grant  it  may  be  in 
the  defense  of  the  Union  of  these  States."  This  prayer  has 
been  vouchsafed  to  me ;  upon  this  question  I  have  made  a 
willing  sacrifice  of  myself,  and  I  rejoice  that  I  have  done 

so 

"Mr.  Tyler  has  made  up  the  issue  for  Congress  whether 
we  or  England  shall  have  Texas.  For  my  own  part,  I  do 
not  choose  that  Mr.  Tyler  or  his  minister  shall  make  up  any 
such  issue  for  me.  Neither  his  opinions,  nor  the  ends'  and 


84  THE   GREAT   KEBELLIOX. 

aims  of  the  disunionists,  nor  the  co-operation  of  Texas  land 
speculators,  nor  of  the  holders  of  Texas  scrip  or  bonds,  shall 
induce  me  to  credit  for  an  instant  the  absurd  idea  that  En 
gland  would  be  willing  to  take  Texas,  with  her  slave  popu 
lation,  as  a  province,  if  it  were  offered  to  her  to-morrow.  .  .  . 
But  what  are  the  terms  of  this  treaty  ?  Who  yet  knows  ? 
But  let  them  be  what  they  may,  I  for  one,  if  I  stand  alone, 
will  never  accede  to  the  annexation  of  that  country  as  long 
as  I  believe  there  is  any  chance  thereby  of  shaking  the  sta 
bility  of  this  Union.  I  am  for  this  country,  this  country  as 
it  is,  and  this  Union  as  it  is,  and  I  will  never  agree  to  dis 
solve  it  for  the  formation  of  any  new  one." 

The  above  speech  was  made  in  New  York  in  the  month 
of  April ;  the  correspondence  which  follows  took  place  in 
December  following.  In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Upshur  had 
been  killed,  and  Mr.  Calhoun  had  succeeded  him  as  Secre 
tary  of  State.  I  give  more  of  this  letter  than  I  should  oth 
erwise  have  done,  because  this  Texas  annexation  was  the 
starting-point,  or  first  entering  wedge  of  disunion,  and  gave 
to  the  secessionists  the  first  symptoms  of  encouragement 
they  had  met  with  in  the  incipient  labor  of  twelve  years, 
which  had  been  devoted  to  the  object  of  disunion.  The  fol 
lowing  is  a  letter  to  me  from  one  of  my  then  constituents : 
Green  Springs,  Louisa,  December  19,  1844. 

DEAK  SIB, — Taking  great  interest  in  your  political  weal 
and  prosperity,  as  well  as  feeling  a  lively  solicitude  in  your 
re-election  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  also 
from  personal  respect,  I  am  induced  to  make  this  commu 
nication. 

As  there  exists  a  considerable  division  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Whig  party  in  relation  to  the  subject  of  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  I  would  respectfully  ask  if  you  are  unconditional 
ly  opposed  to  this  measure  ? 


TIIE   CHEAT   REBELLION.  85 

There  is  a  largo  and  respectable  portion  of  the  Whig  par 
ty  (much  larger  than  is  generally  supposed,  I  am,  from  in 
dubitable  evidence,  induced  to  believe),  not  only  in  this 
county,  but  in  Goochland  and  Hanover,  who  consider  this 
question  of  paramount  importance,  so  much  so  as  to  induce 
them  to  hesitate  in  casting  their  vote  for  a  candidate  uncon 
ditionally  and  "  unqualifiedly"  opposed  to  them  on  this  im 
portant  measure.  Indeed  I  have,  on  several  occasions,  heard 
gentlemen  of  considerable  influence,  who  have  uniformly  co 
operated  zealously  with  the  Whig  party,  and  who  consist 
ently  advocate  and  support  its  prominent  measures,  declare 
that  the  vital  importance  of  this  subject  to  the  particular 
interests  of  the  Southern  portion  of  this  Confederacy,  and 
the  dependence  arising  from  our  peculiar  institutions,  un 
der  the  present  aspect  of  political  affairs,  for  support  and 
balance  of  power,  has  induced  them  to  waver  in  their  alle 
giance  to  their  party,  and  produced  in  their  minds  a  condi 
tion  of  doubt  and  uncertainty  as  favorable  to  the  success 
of  the  opposite  party  as  injurious  to  the  prospects  and  or 
ganization  of  our  own.  This  is  the  prolific  source  of  the 
numerous  calls  for  a  convention  for  the  purpose  of  selecting 
a  suitable  candidate  to  represent  this  congressional  district, 
arid  not  "individual  attachments"  as  represented  by  the 
Whiff.  I  believe  that  an  answer  favorable  to  the  views  of 

O 

those  gentlemen  will  insure  your  re-election  without  the 
least  difficulty,  and  an  adverse  one  will  detach  a  "  segment 
of  a  larger  vote"  than  the  nomination  of  either  Rhodes, 
Daniel,  Lyons,  or  Fleming,  with  you  in  the  field. 

For  myself,  individually,  though  ardently  in  favor  of  this 
measure,  I  shall  unhesitatingly  yield  a  cheerful  vote  to  the 
man  who  has  battled  so  gloriously  in  defense  of  our  cause ; 
who  has  stood  forth  the  fearless  champion  of  our  invaded 
rights;  who,  alike  unseduced  by  the  blandishments  of  pow- 


86  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

er  as  unappalled  by  its  frowns,  has  ever  exposed  its  cor 
ruptions  ;  who  has,  with  chivalrous  courage,  unheeding  the 
siren  songs  of  place  or  office,  lifted  the  veil  that  concealed 
the  traitor,  and  exposed  him  in  all  his  hideous  deformity  to 
the  astonished  gaze  of  a  deluded  people,  and  defied  his  im 
potent  rage,  be  the  response  what  it  may. 

But  why  may  not  a  Whig,  without  divesting  himself  of 
his  party  allegiance,  without  worshiping  Baal,  without  be 
ing  expelled  from  his  political  church,  without  yielding  the 
cherished  opinions  of  a  lifetime  on  those  subjects  so  dear  to 
his  heart,  which  he  has  ever  been  and  will  ever  be  proud  to 
maintain — yes,  why  may  he  not  favor  the  annexation  of 
Texas  to  this  Union  ?  The  fact  of  the  purchase  of  Louisi 
ana  by  Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  detract  from  his  republicanism. 
May  we  not  have  a  national  bank  and  a  tariff  as  well  with 
Texas  as  without  it  ?  But  verbitm  sap.  Excuse  the  liberty 
I  have  taken,  for  I  can  assure  you  that  nothing  but  an  earn 
est  zeal  in  your  behalf,  and  a  deep  interest  in  the  ensuing 
contest,  would  have  induced  me  thus  to  trespass  on  your 
time  and  patience. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
WM.  R.  HACKETT. 

Half  Sink,  December  23,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  the  19th  instant  has  re 
mained  unanswered  until  this  time,  first,  because  my  mind 
and  time  since  I  received  it  have  both  been  closely  occupied 
in  private  matters  which  could  not  be  neglected,  and  second 
ly,  because,  when  I  did  answer  it,  I  desired  to  do  so  at  some 
length,  not  only  that  my  views  on  that  subject  might  not  be 
misunderstood  by  any  one  voter  of  the  district,  but  because 
my  vanity  (it  may  be)  induced  me  to  indulge  the  hope  that 
when  I  presented  all  my  objections  to  the  scheme  of  the  po- 


TIIE    GKEAT   EEBELLION.  87 

litical,  as  well  as  the  land  and  scrip  stock-jobbers,  for  the  an 
nexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States,  they  might  not  be 
without  their  influence  in  bringing  your  own  mind  to  a  dif 
ferent  conclusion  from  that  to  which  it  seems  to  have  ar 
rived. 

In  anticipation  of  presenting  myself  once  again  as  a  can 
didate  for  Congress,  I  not  only  recognize  your  right,  but 
the  right  of  every  (even  the  humblest)  voter  in  the  district 
to  know  my  opinions  on  this  as  on  all  other  subjects  upon 
which,  as  their  representative,  I  might  be  called  on  to  act ; 
and,  although  the  opinions  I  entertain  relative  to  the  Texas 
question  might  endanger  my  election,  I  can  with  conscien 
tious  truth  declare  that,  if  I  were  now  a  candidate  for  the 
highest  office  known  to  our  institutions,  and  the  result  turn 
ed  upon  that  question  alone,  I  would  not  withhold  my  op 
position  to  the  measure  to  insure  my  success.  I  believe, 
not  only  as  a  matter  of  honesty,  but  of  policy,  that  there  is 
but  one  path  for  a  public  as  well  as  a  private  man  to  tread, 
and  that  is,  one  of  straightforward  integrity  and  independ 
ence  ;  for  if  he  be  honest  in  his  views,  however  mistaken 
they  may  be,  he  can  at  least,  at  all  times,  give  such  reasons 
for  his  course  as  will  satisfy  all  who  are  interested  of  the 
purity  of  his  purpose ;  which,  with  a  generous  constituency, 
will  cover  a  multitude  of  errors  in  which  the  heart  does  not 
participate.  I  have  no  prejudices  and  no  interests  to  con 
sult,  and  no  feeling  other  than  that  derived  from  a  desire  to 
discharge  my  duty  faithfully  to  my  country ;  but  I  believe 
the  success  of  that  measure  would  prove  ruinous  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  present  states,  particularly  the  Southern 
States,  hazardous  to  the  Union,  and  dangerous  as  a  prece 
dent,  without  one  single  benefit  resulting  from  it. 

With  these  preliminary  remarks,  I  proceed,  then,  to  an 
swer  your  inquiry,  by  declaring  myself  unconditionally,  un- 


88  THE    GEE  AT    REBELLION. 

qualifiedly,  and  unalterably  opposed,  not  only  to  the  Texas 
treaty,  but  to  Mr.  Benton's  bill,  Mr.  M'Duffie's  joint  resolu 
tion,  or  any  other  scheme  of  annexation  of  the  United  States 
with  Texas  or  any  other  foreign  power  that  has  been  or 
can  be  devised;  and  I  rejoice  to  have  been  the  first  in  the 
United  States,  in  public  discussion,  to  have  taken  a  decided 
stand  against  it,  even  before  the  treaty  was  concluded,  my 
reasons  for  which  I  will  endeavor  to  give  as  briefly  as  pos 
sible,  so  as  to  make  myself  intelligible. 

It  must  be  admitted  by  all  to  be  a  question  of  the  most 
delicate,  interesting,  and  important  nature,  differing  from  all 
others  that  can  arise  during  the  term  for  which  the  coming- 
in  administration  will  be  in  power — not  only  involving  the 
honor  of  the  nation  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  but,  un 
like  the  questions  of  Tariff,  Distribution,  or  Currency,  which 
may  be  settled  to-day  and  unsettled  to-morrow,  as  they  may 
prove  pernicious  or  beneficial,  it  is  perpetual  and  unalterable 
when  it  is  once  settled.  It  becomes  us,  therefore,  as  a  peo 
ple  (I  will  not  say  as  a  Southern  people,  because  as  yet  we 
are,  as  I  hope  we  shall  ever  continue  to  be  one  people,  and 
as  we  must  be,  when  wise  counsels  prevail  and  wicked  men 
no  longer  bear  sway),  to  look  to  this  question  in  all  its  as 
pects  and  bearings  before  we  conclude  hastily  upon  it ;  and, 
while  it  is  by  no  means  my  strongest  objection,  yet  I  take 
up  first  the  question  of  expediency. 

In  the  first  place,  I  prefer  this  Union  as  it  is,  and  as  it  has 
been  handed  down  to  us,  and  as  we  were  expected  to  hand 
it  down  "  as  a  rich  legacy  unto  our  issue,"  to  any  other  and 
all  others  that  can  be  formed ;  and  it  is  enough  for  me  to 
know  that,  if  the  Texas  scheme  did  not  have  its  origin  with, 
it  has  found  in  its  negotiators  and  chief  advocates  only  the 
interested  land  and  scrip  holders  and  political  tradesmen, 
who  have  avowed,  and  daily  do  avow  their  anxious  desire 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  89 

for  a  dissolution  of  our  glorious  Union,  and  to  believe  at  the 
same  time,  as  I  do,  that  a  dissolution  would  prove  the  first 
fruit  of  annexation. 

Can  any  observing  or  reflecting  man  have  read  the  corre 
spondence  of  the  negotiator  of  the  treaty,  Mr.  John  Catiline 
Calhoun — as  he  was  once  characterized  by  the  Globe  and 
Inquirer  for  his  supposed  dark  designs  upon  the  Union,  a 
suspicion  from  which  he  has  to  this  very  day  never  relieved 
himself,  and  which  his  State  of  South  Carolina  openly  boasts 
— without  being  inevitably  led  to  this  conclusion  ? 

Look  to  his  correspondence  during  the  last  spring  with 
Mr.  Pakenham,  the  British  minister,  the  representative  of  a 
government  known  to  be  hostile  to  black  slavery  in  all  its 
aspects  (I  use  the  term  black  slavery,  because  I  think  there 
is  less  freedom,  comfort,  and  happiness  among  their  white 
laborers  or  operatives  than  among  our  slaves,  for  whom  they 
manifest  so  much  sympathy),  in  which  he  opens,  and  there 
by  invites  a  correspondence  on  that  delicate  subject,  which 
he  has  been  clamorous  in  claiming  to  be  purely  a  domes 
tic  question  with  which  we  could  allow  no  interference. 
He  not  only  opens  a  correspondence  with  Mr.  Pakenham, 
which,  to  his  credit  be  it  said,  he  had  the  good  sense  and 
wisdom  to  decline,  but  in  it  he  based  the  whole  object  of 
the  treaty  upon  the  ground  of  the  extension  and  perpetua 
tion  of  slavery ;  and  while  in  one  breath  he  declared  that 
Texas  was  a  sovereign  and  independent  power  over  which 
Mexico  had  no  claim  and  could  exert  no  authority,  either 
de  facto  or  dejure,  he  in  the  next,  even  on  the  day  after 
the  negotiation  of  the  treaty,  dispatched  a  special  envoy  to 
Mexico  to  purchase  her  claims  on  Texas,  and  at  the  same  in 
stant  of  time  the  Executive  threatened  Mexico  with  venge 
ance  and  war  if  she  should  dare  to  attempt,  during  the 
pendency  of  the  treaty,  the  recovery  of  her  acknowledged 


90  THE   GKEAT   EEBELLION. 

claim  to  a  "  revolted  province,"  for  the  relinquishmerrt  of 
which  a  representative  or  agent  of  the  United  States  was 
sent,  as  I  have  just  said,  to  offer  millions  of  gold,  while  the 
western  division  of  the  army  of  the  United  States  was  act 
ually  marched  to  the  confines  of  Texas,  and  confidentially 
made  subject  to  the  Texan  government,  and  a  portion  of  the 
United  States  Navy  wras  sent  to  cruise  in  the  Gulf  of  Mex 
ico,  with  orders  to  show  themselves  occasionally  before  Vera 
Cruz. 

What  was  this  but  a  covert  declaration  of  war,  made  by 
the  executive  branch  of  the  government  on  a  weak  and  re 
sistless  power,  and  that,  too,  in  the  presence  of  and  during 
the  session  of  Congress,  which  a  majority  of  that  body 
winked  at?  What  was  it  but  such  a  war  as  the  Texas 
schemers  knew  the  Northern  States  would  not  embark  in — 
an  unjust,  unrighteous,  unprovoked,  and  ungodly  war  with 
Mexico  to  rob  her  of  her  revolted  province,  and,  as  Mr.  Cal- 
houn  says,  for  the  extension  and  perpetuation  of  slavery? 

Now,  whatever  may  be  my  feelings  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  I  make  bold,  as  a  Southern  man,  to  declare  that  in 
my  judgment  these  are  very  insufficient  causes  for  a  nation 
al  robbery  or  for  war  with  a  friendly  power  making  no  ef 
fort  and  entertaining  no  design  to  interfere  with  that  or  any 
other  of  our  concerns. 

It  was  a  South  Carolina  movement,  first,  to  create  dissen 
sion,  heart-burnings,  and  division  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  and,  if  war  should  be  the  result,  then  to  drive 
the  North  from  its  support,  and,  in  the  accomplishment  of 
their  heart's  most  earnest  desire — one  that  is  daily  avowed 
by  their  most  prominent  public  men,  to  wit,  the  dissolution 
of  the  Union — throw  the  odium  and  responsibility  from  their 
own  shoulders  upon  the  North  for  refusing  to  participate 
in  a  war  for  any  such  purpose.  There  arc  thousands  and 


THE   GEE  AT  EEBELLIOX.  91 

millions  at  the  North  who  believe  this  institution  guaran 
teed  by  the  Constitution  to  the  South,  and  will  adhere  to 
the  South  on  this  question ;  but  there  are  none,  I  believe, 
who  desire  its  extension  and  perpetuation — they  rather  de 
plore  its  existence ;  but  the  North  might  as  soon  expect  the 
South  to  back  her  in  a  war  for  its  extermination  as  for  the 
South  to  ask  the  North  to  go  to  war  to  extend  and  perpet 
uate  it ;  and  this  no  man  knew  better  than  the  Secretary  of 
State,  the  negotiator  of  the  treaty. 

Look,  too,  to  the  bold,  open,  and  treasonable  proceedings 
of  the  friends  and  followers  of  the  negotiator  in  South  Car 
olina  during  the  last  summer  and  fall,  and  you  find  nothing 
but  Disunion,  Disunion  !  Texas,  Texas  J  Disunion  without 
Texas,  and  Texas  and  Disunion ! 

To  ascertain  their  views  fully,  it  were  as  well  to  look  to 
the  declarations  of  one  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  friends  from  South 
Carolina,  made  about  the  time  of  the  Texas  treaty,  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  I  mean  Mr.  Rhett,  who  declared 
he  would  scorn  himself  if  he  were  capable  of  singing  hosan- 
nas  to  this  Union ;  while  another  of  his  faithful  followers, 
even  to  the  abandonment  of  all  his  former  cherished  princi 
ples  (I  mean  Mr.  M'Duffie),  entered  into  a  calculation  in  the 
Senate  Chamber  upon  the  value  of  the  Union,  and  under 
took  to  show  the  advantages  of  three  separate  confederacies 
formed  out  of  the  United-  States,  declaring  upon  his  soul 
that,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  had  not  known  this  gov 
ernment  but  for  its  most  iniquitous  oppressions  ;  and,  when 
charged  by  Mr.  Benton  to  his  face  with  treasonable  designs 
in  the  Texas  movement,  blanched  and  quailed,  and  could 
not  utter  a  word  in  his  defense ;  even  this  Mr.  M'Duffie, 
who,  in  his  message  to  the  South  Carolina  Legislature  in 
1836,  when  speaking  of  the  application  of  Texas  for  admis 
sion  into  the  Union,  said  :  "  In  my  opinion,  Congress  ought 


92  THE   CHEAT   REBELLION, 

not  even  to  entertain  such  a  proposition  in  the  present  state 
of  the  controversy.  If  we  admit  Texas  into  our  Union 
while  Mexico  is  still  waging  war  against  that  province  with 
a  view  to  re-establish  her  supremacy  over  it,  we  shall,  by 
the  very  act  itself,  make  ourselves  a  party  to  the  war ;  nor 
can  we  take  this  step  without  incurring  this  heavy  respons 
ibility  until  Mexico  herself  shall  recognize  the  independence 
of  her  revolted  province"  And  now,  disunion  being  at  the 
bottom,  this  gentleman  is  the  first  to  step  forth,  in  the  ab 
sence  of  that  recognition  on  the  part  of  Mexico,  and  while 
our  Executive  is  complaining  in  his  annual  messages  of  the 
savage  and  inhuman  war  carried  on  by  that  power  against 
Texas,  which  he  thinks  we  ought  to  put  a  stop  to,  he  steps 
forward  and  proposes  to  take  it,  nolens  volens,  by  the  sim 
ple  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution,  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of 
no  more  moment  than  the  payment  of  a  messenger's  wages. 
It  serves  well  to  show  the  degeneracy  of  the  times  and  of 
our  people.  A  few  years  back,  and  such  a  proposition 
would  have  aroused  the  indignation  of  all  men  of  all  par 
ties  ;  and  he  who  would  have  presented  it  would  have  been 
regarded  as  little  short  of  a  madman,  and  the  party  that 
would  have  entertained  it  would  have  been  overwhelmed 
with  popular  resentment.  Well  might  Mr.  Gallatin  have 
expressed  his  surprise  that  such  a  mode  of  acquiring  Texas 
could  have  entered  into  the  imagination  of  man. 

But  again,  at  a  more  recent  period,  you  find  this  able  and 
most  skillful  and  accomplished  negotiator  and  diplomatist, 
who  has  done  nothing  but  blunder  and  stumble  on  like  a 
blind  horse  over  plowed  ground  ever  since  he  has  been  in 
the  department,  whose  sensibilities  have  been  so  much 
shocked  at  the  bare  presentation  of  abolition  petitions  from 
members  of  this  confederacy  as  to  propose  at  one  time  to 
the  whole  Southern  delegation  in  Congress  to  retire  from 


THE   CHEAT  EEBELLION.  93 

the  halls  of  Congress,  and  thus  by  violence  dismember  the 
government,  you  find  him  throwing  wide  the  whole  ques 
tion  of  domestic  slavery,  and  not  only  authorizing  but  in 
viting  the  interference  and  co-operation  of  the  French  gov 
ernment  in  the  treaty  or  other  new-fangled  mode  of  annex 
ation,  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating  the  blessings  and  ad 
vantages  of  slavery.  Now.  if  it  be  conceded  by  our  gov 
ernment  that  France  may  rightfully  interfere,  I  pray  to 
know  upon  what  principle  of  civil  or  international  law  the 
same  right  can  be  denied  to  Great  Britain,  whose  pretended 
designs  upon  this  question  were  made  the  first  pretext  for 
immediate,  instantaneous  annexation,  or  slavery  was  to  be 
abolished  and  Southern  interests  destroyed?  And  why  is 
this  interference  on  the  part  of  France  with  our  peculiar 
fireside  domestic  rights  courted  and  entreated,  but  that  it 
may  lead  to  an  interference  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  for 
its  destruction  ;  and  which  may  lead,  by  their  natural  sym 
pathies  and  affinities,  to  a  co-operation  between  the  Aboli 
tionists  of  the  North  and  that  government  that  would  tend 
to  unite  more  closely  the  sympathies  and  interests  of  the 
South,  lead  to  a  division  of  the  empire,  and  annexation  with 
Texas?  This  I  believe  to  be  the  design,  and  this,  I  fear, 
will  be  the  result,  if  this  Texas  humbug  is  not  speedily  and 
decisively  settled  by  the  good  sense  of  our  countrymen. 
Upon  no  other  view  of  the  subject  can  the  weakness  and 
puerility  —  I  should  say  madness  —  of  his  diplomatic  corre 
spondence  be  accounted  for. 

But  apart  from  all  this,  apart  from  Mexican  rights,  the 
national  honor,  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  what  are  the  ad 
vantages  that  we  are  to  derive  from  the  annexation  of  Tex 
as?  We  already  see  that  our  negotiator  and  his  confeder 
ates  have  placed  us  in  a  position  toward  Mexico  that  we 
can  not  escape  a  war  without  dishonor  to  the  executive 


94  THE    GKEAT   REBELLION. 

branch  of  the  government,  and  we  can  not  get  into  one 
without  disgrace  to  the  nation.  But  let  that  terminate  as 
it  may,  what,  I  ask,  are  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
such  annexation,  even  with  the  assent  of  Mexico  ?  Is.  not 
our  territory  already  sufficiently  capacious  to  contain  our 
population  ?  Are  our  millions  of  unsold  public  lands,  which 
must  sooner  or  later  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  states,  to 
whom  it  belongs,  to  be  surrendered  or  rendered  valueless 
in  order  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  speculators  in  Texas 
lands  or  Texas  scrip,  or  to  favor  the  views  of  political 
tradesmen  ?  Are  we  to  depreciate  the  land  of  the  old 
states  (in  Virginia,  for  example)  and  depopulate  our  state 
to  people  Texas  ?  Are  we  to  despoil  it  of  the  most  active, 
industrious,  and  useful  portion  of  its  population,  by  holding 
out  an  invitation  and  inducement  to  the  energetic  and  en 
terprising  young  men  of  the  state  to  seek  adventures  and 
fortunes  in  a  new  country  ?  Are  we  to  plunder  our  treas 
ury  to  pay  the  debts  of  Texas — at  a  time,  too,  when  the  cred 
it  of  our  states  is  dishonored  ?  Are  we  so  harmonious  in 
our  councils  now  as  to  make  occasion  for  new  difficulties  and 
new  strife?  Is  our  legislation  so  satisfactory  to  all  parts 
of  the  present  Union  that  we  should  desire  to  extend  its  in 
fluence,  diversify  still  more  the  interests  to  be  cared  for,  and 
introduce  among  us  an  additional  number  of  disaffected  dis- 
organizers  and  repudiationists  ?  Are  we  to  open  still  wider 
the  door  to  fraud  and  corruption,  not  by  the  introduction 
of  individual  foreigners,  but  of  a  foreign  nation?  When  it 
has  become  an  interesting  and  a  prominent  question  wheth 
er  we  shall  restrict  or  prohibit  entirely  all  future  naturali 
zation,  is  it  expedient  to  naturalize  two  hundred  thousand 
at  a  batch — seven  tenths  of  whom,  no  doubt,  have  the  same 
leveling  and  destructive  propensities  common  to  too  many 
of  our  own  people  ?  Have  we  not,  as  a  nation,  deteriorated 


THE    GKEAT   REBELLION.  95 

in  morality  sufficiently  in  the  last  sixteen  years,  without  the 
introduction  of  Texas  adventurers  among  us  ? 

EFFORTS  TO  EXTEND  SLAVERY. 

Up  to  this  period  secession  had  made  but  little  percepti 
ble  progress.  But  the  archfiend  of  secession,  Mr.  Tyler's 
Secretary  of  State  (Mr.  Calhoun),  took  good  care,  as  you 
will  perceive,  to  see  that  the  extension  of  slavery  should 
constitute  a  prominent  feature  in  the  foreground  of  the  ne 
gotiation,  as  a  great  and  momentous  issue,  upon  the  result 
of  which  the  safety  and  existence  of  Southern  institutions 
was  to  depend.  He  openly  proclaimed  that  the  great  object 
of  the  annexation  was  for  the  expansion  of  slave  territory, 
and  consequent  increase  and  continuance  of  power  to  the 
Democracy  of  the  South,  and  this  it  was,  as  I  had  it  from 
his  own  lips,  that  first  drove  John  Quincy  Adams  into  the 
ranks  of  the  Abolition  party.  I  was  at  that  time  in  Wash 
ington,  contesting  the  seat  of  the  late  John  W.  Jones.  Mr. 
Adams  had  made  a  speech,  in  which  he  had  given  utter 
ance  to  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  slavery  which  did  not 
correspond  with  the  views  he  had  been  supposed  to  enter 
tain  ;  for  up  to  that  time  he  had  made  himself  obnoxious  to 
the  Abolition  party  in  his  district,  and  they  had  on  several 
occasions  brought  forward  an  Abolition  candidate  against 
him. 

Upon  the  adjournment  of  the  House  we  walked  down  to 
gether,  and  I  took  occasion  to  refer  to  his  remarks  (which 
I  do  not  now  precisely  recollect),  and  said  I  thought  he  did 
not  mean  to  say  all  that  his  language  could  imply.  "  Yes," 
he  replied,  "  I  said  it  deliberately  and  purposely."  "  But," 
said  I,  "  Mr.  Adams,  you  are  not  an  Abolitionist."  "  Yes, 
I  am,"  said  he;  "I  never  have  been  one  until  now;  but 
when  I  see  the  Constitution  of  my  country  struck  down  by 


96  THE   GKEAT   EEBELLION. 

the  South  for  such  purposes  as  are  openly  avowed,  no  al 
ternative  is  left  me ;  I  must  oppose  them  with  all  the  means 
within  my  reach ;  I  must  fight  the  devil  with  his  own  fire ; 
and,  to  do  this  effectually,  I  am  obliged  to  co-operate  with 
the  Abolition  party,  who  have  been  hateful  to  me  hereto 
fore.  If  the  South,"  he  continued,  "  had  consulted  her  true 
interests,  and  followed  your  counsels  on  the  21st  rule  and  on 
this  Texas  question,  their  institutions  would  never  have  been 
endangered  by  the  North ;  but  if  matters  are  to  take  the 
shape  foreshadowed  by  Mr.  Calhoun  and  others  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  then  no  one  can  foretell  what  may  be  the  con 
sequences." 

Much  more  conversation  of  a  similar  nature  passed  be 
tween  us  before  we  separated ;  but  this  is  enough  to  show 
what  influences  operated  on  him,  and,  through  him,  on  a 
large  portion  of  the  North,  over  which  he  exercised  more 
influence  than  any  other  living  man. 

In  this  connection,  and  as  farther  proof,  I  attach  an  ex 
tract  from  an  editorial  of  the  Charleston  Courier  (at  a  later 
period),  the  mouth-piece  and  organ  of  the  whole  secession 
school  of  politicians,  which  of  itself  plainly  shows  that  the 
purposes  and  ends  of  this  Avar  was  to  perpetuate  the  power 
of  Southern  Democracy :  "  Every  battle  fought  in  Mexico, 
and  every  dollar  spent  there,  but  insures  the  acquisition  of 
territory  which  must  widen  the  field  of  Southern  enterprise 
andjt?oteer  in  future.  And  the  final  result  will  be  to  re-ad 
just  the  balance  of  power  in  the  confederacy  so  as  to  give 
us  control  over  the  operations  of  government  in  all  time  to 
come."  This  was  the  only  kind  of  "balance  of  power"  they 
ever  sought — a  balance  all  on  one  side. 

Such  a  declaration  Mr.  Calhoun  well  knew  would  una 
voidably  engender  an  embittered  sectional  contest,  which 
would  necessarily,  as  it  did,  more  and  more  unite  and  ce- 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  97 

men!  the  South  into  one  common  brotherhood  of  Democ 
racy.  He  also  knew  full  well  that  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
whose  independence  had  not  been  recognized  by  Mexico, 
would  necessarily  lead  to  a  war  with  Mexico,  provided  she 
felt  herself  in  a  condition  to  resent  the  outrage  upon  her 
well-known  right  to  Texas  as  a  revolted  province,  and 
through  his  instruments  at  home  he  raised  the  cry  of  '•'•Tex 
as  without  the  Union,  rather  than  the  Union  without  Tex 
as"  which  soon  became  the  rallying-cry  of  the  Democratic 
party  throughout  the  Southern  States ;  and  it  was  upon 
this  issue,  thus  adroitly  but  mischievously  made,  that  thou 
sands  of  the  Whig  party,  of  easy  virtue  and  shallow  brains, 
were  democratized,  and  through  their  instrumentality,  to 
the  infinite  surprise  of  the  nation  and  the  world,  Mr.  James 
K.  Polk  beat  Mr.  Clay  for  the  Presidency  in  1844. 

THE    STRICT   DISCIPLINE   IN    THE   DEMOCRATIC   RANKS. 

Thus  you  have  seen,  though  not  exactly  in  chronological 
order,  how  and  for  what  purpose  Texas  was  annexed,  and 
how  and  for  what  purpose  the  war  with  Mexico  was  made 
by  the  Democratic  party  through  their  agent  and  repre 
sentative,  Mr.  Polk,  and  without  the  sanction  of  Congress, 
though  then  in  session.  This  was  made,  not  because  war 
in  itself  was  at  all  more  desirable  to  Democracy  than  to  any 
other  people,  but  because  it  would  lead  to  acquisition  of 
territory,  and  to  long  and  angry  sectional  disputes,  and  ul 
timately  either  to  the  security  of  their  power  under  the  na 
tional  government  or  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  all  of 
which  followed  as  had  been  anticipated ;  for  whatever  else 
may  be  said  of  the  Democratic  party,  it  can  not  be  denied 
that  it  was  the  best-organized  and  the  best-drilled  party 
that  the  world  has  produced  in  any  age  or  country ;  and 
it  never  lacked  the  boldness  to  do  any  thing,  however  mon- 

E 


98  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

strous  and  violent,  or  unconstitutional,  to  accomplish  the 
object  of  its  leaders.  One  of  the  distinguishing  features 
that  has  always  marked  the  difference  between  the  Demo 
cratic  and  Whig  parties  in  this  country  has  been,  that  the 
former  was  never  afraid  to  do  what  they  knew  to  be  wrong 
to  accomplish  an  end,  while  the  latter  was  always  afraid  to 
do  what  they  knew  to  be  right  for  the  same  end. 

]STo  army  under  the  lead  of  the  great  Napoleon  was  ever 
more  under  his  control,  or  more  obedient  to  his  orders,  than 
were  the  masses  of  the  Democracy  to  the  demands  made 
upon  them  by  the  hungry  and  greedy  set  of  demagogues, 
their  leaders,  after  the  spoils  of  office,  the  dispensation  of 
patronage,  and  the  exercise  and  perpetuation  of  power ;  and 
so  far  did  this  well-digested  plan  succeed  that  the  safety  of 
the  Union  was  then  greatly  imperiled  by  the  result.  I  re 
peat  here  what  I  said  in  my  Academy  of  Music  speech  in 
New  York  in  1859: 

"  I  clo  not  mean  to  say,  because  I  do  not  believe  that  vice 
and  corruption  pervade  the  entire  body  of  Democratic  pol 
iticians,  although  there  is  far  too  much  of  it  in  politicians 
of  all  parties,  and  none  are  too  good  to  bear  watching ;  but 
it  is  the  nature  and  character  of  their  organization,  which 
is  the  most  perfect,  compact,  and  formidable  that  ever  con 
trolled  a  party,  that  leads  to  all  these  mischiefs;  it  is  the 
system  and  policy  they  pursue,  and  to  which  few  of  them 
do  not  subscribe ;  and  when  they  do  not  they  are  excluded 
from,  the  fleshpots,  which  is  the  severest  punishment  known 
to  their  codes — that  policy  is  to  make  all  things  bend  to 
success,  to  sacrifice  all  things  human  and  holy  to  the  as 
cendency  of  party  and  the  perpetuation  of  power ;  neither 
the  lights  of  experience,  the  peace  of  the  country,  the  har 
mony  of  sections,  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution,  the 
safety  of  the  Union,  the  prosperity  of  the  nation,  the  purity 


THE   GEEAT   REBELLION.  99 

of  the  bench,  the  sanctity  of  the  church,  neither  one  nor  all 
these  combined  are  allowed  to  break  through  the  serried 
ranks  of  their  political  organization,  which  has  no  principle 
for  its  basis,  and  no  manly  incentive  for  its  conduct." 

THE   WILMOT  PEOVISO. 

So  alarming  were  the  threats  of  dissolution  occasioned 
by  the  application  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  (which  was  noth 
ing  but  the  revival  of  the  provisions  of  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,and  for  which  this  same  Southern  Democracy  had  them 
selves  just  before  voted— I  believe  unanimously  or  nearly  so 
— when  applied  to  the  Territory  of  Oregon)  to  all  territory 
acquired  from  Mexico,  of  which  full  notice  had  been  given 
during  the  Avar,  and  before  the  territory  was  acquired,  that 
Mr.  Clay,  who  had  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  and  re 
tired  to  private  life  with  a  determination  never  again  to 
engage  in  the  turmoil  of  political  strife,  was  induced  by  a 
lofty  spirit  of  patriotism  to  leave  the  comforts  of  home, 
which  at  his  advanced  age  had  become  essential  to  his 
health  and  repose,  to  return  again  to  the  Senate,  once  more 
to  still  the  elements  of  an  approaching  political  hurricane 
that  threatened  to  sweep  every  thing  of  value  in  our  insti 
tutions  before  it.  The  result  you  well  know  to  have  been 
the  adoption  of  the  Compromise  Measures  of  1850. 

The  adoption  of  these  measures  of  compromise  was  hard 
ly  a  less  staggering  blow  struck  at  the  wicked  aims  of  this 
reckless  and  disloyal  party  than  that  struck  by  General 
Jackson  in  1833,  even  at  the  moment  that  they  had  indulged 
in  the  insane  fancy  that  the  time  had  arrived  for  a  bold  out 
break  into  open  revolution.  But  discomforted  and  dis 
heartened  as  they  were,  the  leaders  did  not  lose  their  cour 
age,  for  they  were  always  a  bold,  daring,  and  desperate  set 
of  men,  who  had  set  their  hearts  on  the  destruction  of  a  gov- 


100  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

ernment  that  they  saw  must  soon  pass  from  under  their 
control.  The  standard  of  rebellion  was  raised,  and  they 
called  a  Southern  Convention,  to  be  held  at  Nashville,  for 
the  purpose  of  resisting  by  force  the  measures  which  had 
been  adopted ;  but  the  loyalty  of  the  people  had  not  then 
been  sufficiently  corrupted  to  encourage  an  open  outbreak. 
Nevertheless,  the  secession  flag  was  raised  in  most  of  the 
Cotton  States.  In  Mississippi,  General  Quitman  was  the  se 
cession  candidate  for  governor,  and  the  Mr.  Henry  S.  Foote 
now  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  and  the  con 
stant  eulogist  of  his  then  opponent,  and  as  active  a  cham 
pion  of  secession  as  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  South,  was  the 
Union  candidate.  He  boldly  repudiated  and  denied  the 
right  of  a  state  to  secede,  denounced  it  as  treason,  and  in  a 
short  time  Davis  was  driven  from  the  field.  Jeff.  Davis 
supplied  his  place,  but  the  people  of  Mississippi  triumphant 
ly  sustained  Foote,  and  he  wTas  elected  governor  by  a  large 
majority.  The  same  flag  was  also  raised  in  Georgia  under 
the  lead  of  the  then  Governor  M'Donough.  Howell  Cobb, 
late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  and 
now  a  general  of  the  Confederate  Army,  was  the  Union 
candidate ;  he  also  denounced  secession  as  treason,  and  was 
likewise  triumphantly  sustained  by  the  people  of  Georgia. 

The  party  seeing  these  overwhelming  indications  of  de 
termined  hostility  to  the  doctrine  of  secession,  and  of  the 
popularity  of  the  measures  they  had  so  persistently  op 
posed,  wheeled  to  the  right  about,  claimed  the  compromises 
as  their  own,  went  into  convention  to  nominate  a  candi 
date  for  the  Presidency,  and  adopted  a  platform,  pledging 
themselves  unequivocally  to  a  faithful  support  of  the  meas 
ures  they  had  thus  resisted. 

This  it  was  necessary  they  should  do  to  give  them  a 
ghost  of  a  chance  to  elect  a  Democratic  President ;  and  for 


THE    GREAT  REBELLION.  101 

that  end  they  were  prepared,  as  they  always  had  been,  to 
do  any  thing  deemed  requisite  to  their  success.  This  was 
their  solemn  pledge  to  the  people  of  the  United  States ; 
how  far  they  adhered  to  this  pledge,  after  they  had  de 
luded  and  cheated  the  people  into  a  trust  to  their  sincerity 
and  honesty,  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel.  But  upon  this 
pledge  to  the  nation  they  set  up  Mr.  Franklin  Pierce,  of 
New  Hampshire,  a  man  unknown  to  fame,  a  man,  for  such 
a  position,  of  absolute  obscurity,  a  man  without  talents, 
without  firmness,  without  reputation,  without  popularity  or 
influence,  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
against  General  Scott,  whom  they  charged  with  being  un 
safe,  and  unsound,  and  not  to  be  trusted  on  the  measures 
of  compromise ;  and,  by  hard  swearing,  they  succeeded  in 
persuading  the  great  masses  of  the  Southern  people  that  this 
New  England  pettifogger  was  more  to  be  relied  on  for  the 
protection  of  Southern  rights  and  Southern  institutions  than 
General  Scott,  a  native  born  Virginian,  who  was  not  only 
born  and  raised  in  the  midst  of  slavery,  but  whose  wThole 
property  and  interests  were  located  here  in  Virginia,  and 
who  had  a  most  enlarged  national  reputation — one,  indeed, 
that  extended  throughout  the  world,  and  who  was  known 
to  have  been  extremely  active  and  efficient  in  Washington 
in  procuring  the  passage  of  the  Compromises  of  1850. 

THE   EXTREMISTS    OF    BOTH    SECTIONS   UNITED   IN   ACTION. 

It  is  a  circumstance  not  to  be  overlooked  here,  that 
throughout  the  period  that  these  measures  were  before  Con 
gress,  the  extreme  men  of  both  sections,  to  wit,  the  North 
ern  Abolitionists  and  the  Southern  Seceders  and  "  Fire-eat 
ers,"  as  they  were  called,  uniformly  and  invariably  acted 
and  voted  together.  In  illustration  of  this,  I  will  mention 
an  amusing  incident  that  occurred  at  the  Exchange  Hotel 


102  THE   GKEAT   KEBELLION. 

in  Richmond.  Shortly  after  the  passage  of  these  measures, 
the  celebrated  John  P.  Hale,  senator  from  New  Hampshire, 
came  to  Richmond.  I  happened  to  be  present  with  the 
late  Caleb  Jones  —  a  near  neighbor  and  friend,  although  a 
violent  Democrat,  with  whom  I  had  walked  to  the  Ex 
change — when  the  Northern  cars  arrived,  and  Mr.  Halo  en 
tered  the  room.  After  the  usual  salutations,  Jones  said,  * 
"Why,  ITale,  ain't  you  afraid  to  come  to  Richmond?" 
Hale,  who  affected  surprise  and  uneasiness,  looking  around 
the  room,  in  which  there  were  quite  a  number  of  persons, 
replied,  "  Well,  I  don't  know  j  is  there  any  danger  in  my 
coming  here  ?  Don't  Mason  come  to  Richmond  ?  Don't 
Hunter  come  to  Richmond  ?  Don't  Scddon  come  to  Rich 
mond  ?  And  if  they  can  come,  can't  I  come  also,  for  I  voted 
with  them  all  the  winter?  If  they  gave  Southern  votes,  so 
did  I ;  and  if  I  gave  Northern  votes,  so  did  they  ;  and  don't 
you  think  what  is  sauce  for  the  goose  should  also  be  sauce 
for  the  gander  ?"  This  happy  retort  on  the  part  of  Hale 
not  only  discomfited  poor  Jones  (who  was  a  warm  politic 
al  friend  and  supporter  of  these  three  gentlemen),  but  com 
pletely  turned  the  laugh  of  the  whole  company,  Whigs  and 
Democrats,  who  recognized  the  truth  of  what  he  had  said, 
upon  Jones,  who  joined  in  the  laugh,  but,  as  he  told  me  aft 
erward,  he  never  enjoyed  one  so  little,  for  there  was  more 
truth  than  poetry  in  the  answer. 

AGITATION   THE   OBJECT  IN   VIEW. 

It  is  curious  to  inquire  how  and  why  it  happened  that 
for  so  long  a  time  these  two  extremes  were  thus  found  in 
active  co-operation,  voting  side  by  side  with  each  other, 
and  on  that  particular  subject  upon  which  the  greatest  an 
tagonism  existed.  The  solution  is  simple :  these  two  par 
ties  were  always  alike  in  favor  of  constant  and  eternal  agi- 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  103 

tation,  and  alike  opposed  to  all  compromise  or  settlement 
of  the  questions  arising  out  of  the  slavery  issue.  The  Abo 
litionists  relied  on  agitation  and  excitement  to  make  prose 
lytes  to  their  cause,  while  the  Secessionists  thought  that, 
by  keeping  this  subject  alive  in  Congress,  and  wherever 
else  it  could  be  introduced,  the  fears  of  our  people  would 
become  the  more  susceptible,  and  their  passions  more  easily 
aroused,  and  the  way  be  thus  paved  for  ultimate  disunion. 
These  Southern  men  never  cared  for  disunion,  nor  desired 
it,  except  as  a  necessary  means  of  retaining  power  in  the 
government ;  nor  would  they  have  tolerated  it  as  long  as 
they  could  hold  that  power  in  their  own  hands;  and  after 
all  the  New  England  States  became  anti-Democratic,  thus 
presenting  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the  permanency  of  their 
power,  a  new  idea  presented  itself  to  their  imaginations, 
which  was  a  partial  disunion,  and  that  was  to  be  effected 
by  sloughing  off  the  New  England  States,  not  because  they 
were  more  thoroughly  imbued  with  Abolition  than  Ohio 
and  other  Western  States,  but  that  they  were  more  cer 
tainly  anti-Democratic  in  their  proclivities. 

In  like  manner  the  extreme  Abolitionists  were  anxious 
for  &  partial  dissolution  ;  their  object  was  to  get  rid  of  the 
institution  of  slavery,  and  they  were  willing  to  do  any  thing 
that  would  drive  the  Cotton  States  off,  into  which  all  the 
slaves  of  the  Border  States,  as  they  thought,  would  soon 
find  their  way.  Thus,  and  for  these  objects,  the  question  of 
slavery  was  used  as  a  foot-ball,  or,  rather,  as  a  shuttle-cock, 
with  which  the  political  game  of  battle-door  was  played  by 
these  two  extremes — extreme  in  their  folly  and  fanaticism  ; 
extreme  in  their  disregard  of  all  other  views  than  their 
own;  extreme  in  their  utter  disregard  of  all  constitutional 
obligations ;  extreme  in  their  disloyalty  to  the  government ; 
extreme  in  their  general  disturbance  of  the  public  tranquil- 


104  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

lity  and  safety;  extreme  in  their  extravagance  and  vio 
lence,  and  extreme  in  their  hatred  and  contempt  of  each 
other.  And  now,  I  will  venture  on  one  other  prediction, 
and  that  is,  that  if  a  proposition  shall  ever  be  made  by  the 
South  for  a  restoration  of  peace,  it  will  be  one  based,  if  not 
in  direct  terms,  at  least  upon  the  idea  of  a  restoration  of 
power  to  the  Democratic  party  by  throwing  off  the  New 
England  States,  or  something  else  that  will  insure  their  fu 
ture  triumph. 

SECESSIONISTS   BECOME   FILIBUSTERS. 

It  was  during  the  progress  of  the  events  I  have  here 
related  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  designs  entertained  by  the 
Democracy,  that  the  various  expeditions  for  the  violent 
seizure  of  Cuba  were  gotten  up,  which  at  last  terminated  so 
fatally  for  both  leader  and  men  in  the  memorable  landing 
of  Lopez  upon  that  island.  That  expedition  was  to  have 
been  led  on  by  the  late  General  Quitman,  a  violent  seces 
sionist,  although  a  man  of  Northern  birth,  but  for  some  rea 
son  he  declined  it,  and  the  command  fell  upon  the  unfortu 
nate  LopeZj  who  lost  his  life  in  the  cause  of  Southern  De 
mocracy.  So,  too,  was  the  repeated  defiance  and  utter  con 
tempt  of  all  law  and  treaty  obligations  for  the  suppression 
of  the  African  slave-trade,  which  was  but  part  and  parcel 
of  the  same  scheme  for  agitation  and  excitement,  and  for 
creating  a  still  deeper  feeling  of  opposition  and  hostility  on 
the  part  of  the  North  toward  the  South.  Nobody  at  the 
present  day  can  believe  for  a  moment  that  these  secession 
ists  ever  desired  the  revival  of  the  African  slave-trade,  for 
the  purpose  of  introducing  a  set  of  naked,  worthless,  and 
degraded  kidnapped  barbarians  on  their  plantations,  and  at 
the  moment,  too,  when  they  affected  to  believe  that  the 
safety  of  the  South  required  an  outlet  through  Texas,  and 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  105 

at  a  later  day  through  Kansas,  for  an  overgrown  and  re 
dundant  slave  population,  except  for  the  object  of  agitation 
and  excitement  on  the  negro  question  that  was  to  set  the 
North  and  South  farther  and  farther  apart. 

In  like  manner,  and  for  the  same  purpose,  were  all  those 
expeditions  on  the  part  of  General  William  Walker  to  Nic 
aragua  gotten  up,  in  defiance  of  all  the  laws  and  obligations 
of  neutrality,  amity,  and  good  neighborhood,  and  which  ex 
cited  the  indignation  of  all  conservative  men  at  home,  and 
the  hostility  and  disquiet  of  all  abroad. 

THE   SOUTHERN   COMMERCIAL   CONVENTIONS. 

Then,  too,  came  the  Southern  Commercial  Conventions, 
composed  chiefly,  though  not  entirely,  of  Southern  seces 
sionists  (for  their  objects  were  not  universally  known), 
which  conventions  never  did,  and  never  were  designed  to 
do  any  thing  more  than  bring  together  every  year  such  a 
body  of  politicians  and  secessionists  as  would  enable  them 
to  make  their  organization  more  complete  and  more  perfect 
for  dissolution,  whenever  the  proper  time  arrived  that  it 
was  necessary  for  the  perpetuation  of  their  power.  To  be 
sure,  in  their  open,  daily  meetings,  they  would  make  gran 
diloquent  speeches  for  the  Southern  papers;  on  Southern 
commerce,  direct  trade,  and  commercial  independence,  what 
a  great  country  the  South  would  make,  etc.,  etc. ;  but  that 
was  the  last  you  would  hear  of  Southern  direct  commerce 
until  the  year  rolled  on,  and  another  meeting  was  held, 
when  the  same  old  formula  was  gone  through  with.  In 
confirmation  of  what  I  say  on  this  subject,  let  me  call  your 
attention  to  what  the  Richmond  Sxaminer,  one  of  the  lead 
ing  organs  of  that  party,  said  but  a  few  days  ago,  to  wit,  on 
the  27th  of  this  month  (October  27,  1861).  In  comment 
ing  on  the  proceedings  of  the  late  meeting  of  the  Southern 

E2 


106  THE   CHEAT   REBELLION. 

Commercial  Convention  in  Macon,  the  editor  said,  "  We 
had  supposed  that  the  mission  of  this  and  other  kindred  po 
litical  conventicles  would  be  fulfilled  by  the  '•fait  accom 
pli'  (accomplished  fact)  of  secession,"  etc.  —  thus  showing 
that  secession  was,  at  least  in  the  opinion  of  that  editor, 
who  was  thoroughly  in  the  confidence  of  the  party,  and 
cognizant  of  all  their  proceedings  and  actions,  the  only  ob 
ject  that  they  had  met  to  consider  and  digest.  I  myself 
attended  one  or  two  of  these  conventions  as  a  delegate  from 
the  city  of  Richmond— one  especially  at  Memphis,  at  which 
I  satisfied  myself  thoroughly  of  the  disorganizing  and  dan 
gerous  character  of  these  meetings,  and  came  home  with  a 
determination  never  to  attend  another. 

THE   CALM   BEFORE   THE    STORM. 

But  to  come  back  to  the  more  regular,  open,  and  distinct 
proceedings  of  the  party.  I  had  brought  you  down  to  1 852, 
and  the  platform  of  that  year.  At  this  time  every  question 
of  difficulty  between  the  North  and  the  South  had  been  ad 
justed  ;  there  wras  not  left  one  inch  of  territory  about 
which  a  dispute  could  arise ;  harmony  was  happily  and 
rapidly  being  restored  to  the  country ;  the  Northern  party, 
it  is  true,  every  where  complained  of  the  rigor  and  harsh 
ness  of  some  of  the  features  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  such 
as  that  which  authorized  the  marshal  of  the  district  to  call 
to  his  aid  any  citizen  or  citizens  to  assist  him,  not  in  vindi 
cating  the  offended  law,  which  was  about  to  be  resisted  by 
a  mob  in  an  attempt  to  rescue  a  slave  already  in  his  custo 
dy,  but  to  enable  him  to  catch  a  runaway  slave,  which  they 
said,  and  said  truly,  was  the  exaction  of  a  distasteful  and 
degrading  duty  to  which  no  Southern  man  was  subjected 
at  home.  Such  a  provision  should  never  have  been  there. 
It  ought  to  have  been,  and,  under  the  bitter  state  of  feeling 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  107 

daily  growing  up  between  the  masses  of  the  two  sections, 
would  have  been  modified.  It  was  put  there  at  the  in 
stance  of  a  senator  from  this  state,  Mr.  James  M.  Mason, 
one  of  the  principal  of  the  secession  party  in  Congress ; 
whether  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  the  North  to  defeat  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  and  thereby  getting  up  additional  excite 
ment  on  that  subject  in  the  South,  or  of  defeating  the  whole 
batch  of  compromises,  or  of  inviting  resistance  to  the  exe 
cution  of  the  law,  is  a  secret  confined,  perhaps,  to  his  own 
breast. 

DEATH    OF   JOHN   C.  CALIIOUN. 

Shortly  after  the  passage  of  the  Compromise  Measures 
Mr.  Calhoun  died,  leaving  as  a  legacy  to  his  Southern 
friends,  in  a  speech  carefully  prepared,  which  he  was  too 
feeble  to  deliver,  but  which  was  read  to  the  Senate  at  his 
request  by  this  same  Mr.  James  M.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  con 
taining  a  recommendation  for  the  establishment  of  two  re 
publics,  or  else  a  "  dual  government,"  with  two  Presidents — 
one  for  the  South  and  the  other  for  the  North,  under  the 
same  republic :  a  speech  so  filled  with  gall  and  treason  to 
ward  his  government  that  it  wa&  a  matter  of  astonishment 
to  many  that  the  Senate  should  have  permitted  it  to  have 
been  read  in  their  presence,  and  in  the  halls  of  legislation. 
Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Webster,  the  two  great  leaders  of  the 
Union  party,  soon  followed  Mr.  Calhoun  to  the  grave ;  so 
that  when  Mr.  Pierce  succeeded  to  power,  and  was  inaugu 
rated  in  March,  1853,  the  Union  party  in  the  South  was 
without  a  head  or  acknowledged  leader  in  their  ranks. 
Jealousy  and  distrust  of  each  other  rendered  the  efforts  of 
all  who  were  fit  to  lead  inoperative  and  useless ;  there  was 
no  concert  of  action,  no  harmony,  and  no  confidence ;  and 
any  political  party  without  a  leader  will  as  certainly  become 


108  THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

disorganized  and  demoralized,  as  will  an  army  in  the  field 
without  commanders.  The  Whig  party  thus  situated,  with 
out  a  head,  soon  became  thoroughly  demoralized,  and,  con 
sequently,  many  of  its  prominent  politicians  thoroughly  de 
mocratized.  It  would  be  useless  here  to  enumerate  those 
who,  at  this  period,  went  over  to  the  strong  party,  or  the 
party  in  power,  to  look  for  a  softer  place  on  which  to  rest 
than  they  had  been  able  to  find  in  the  ranks  of  their  old  as 
sociates.  Some  pretended  that  it  was  because  General 
Scott  was  nominated,  others  because  Mr.Fillmore — who  had 
made  a  "model  President,"  as  all  parties  in  the  South,  se 
cessionists  included,  represented  him  to  be,  because  he  sent 
Federal  troops  to  Boston  to  enforce  the  law  upon  the  peo 
ple  of  Massachusetts — was  not  nominated.  But  there  is  not 
wanting  a  pretext  when  a  politician  resolves  upon  a  change; 
a  reason  is  one  thing  which  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  fur 
nish,  but  none  of  that  class  are  ever  at  a  loss  for  an  excuse. 
With  them  it  may  truly  be  said,  Where  there's  a  will  there's 
always  a  way.  Now,  as  I  approach  the  most  important  pe 
riod  in  the  progress  of  secession,  allow  me  to  go  back  a  lit 
tle,  and  indulge  in  a  slight  repetition  of  what  I  have  already 
gone  over.  You  will  not  have  forgotten  the  platform  of 
the  party  to  which  I  have  already  referred,  and  upon  which 
Mr.  Pierce  was  elected,  by  which  they  pledged  themselves 
"to  adhere  to  a  faithful  execution  of  the  acts  known  as  the 
Compromise  Measures,  settled  by  the  Congress  of  1850," 
and  declaring  "  that  all  efforts  of  the  Abolitionists  or  others 
to  induce  Congress  to  interfere  with  the  question  of  slavery, 
or  to  take  incipient  steps  in  relation  thereto,  were  calculated 
to  lead  to  the  most  alarming  and  dangerous  consequences ; 
and  that  all  such  efforts  have  an  inevitable  tendency  to  di 
minish  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  endanger  the  sta 
bility  and  permanency  of  the  Union,  and  ought  not  to 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  109 

be   countenanced  by   any  friend   of  our  political   institu 
tions!" 

The  Whig  party,  in  their  platform,  declared  as  follows : 
"  We  deprecate  all  farther  agitation  of  the  question  thus 
settled  as  dangerous  to  our  peace,  and  will  discountenance 
all  efforts  to  continue  or  renew  such  agitation  whenever, 
wherever,  or  however  the  attempt  may  be  made ;  and  we 
will  maintain  this  system  as  essential  to  the  nationality  of 
the  Whig  party  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union."  These 
were  portions  and  the  principal  features  in  the  platform  of 
the  two  parties  upon  which  they  went  before  the  coun 
try,  both  pledged  in  the  most  unequivocal  and  solemn  man 
ner  against  taking  any  incipient  steps  in  relation  to  the  far 
ther  agitation  of  the  slavery  question.  Mr.  Pierce  was  elect 
ed  by  a  most  overwhelming  majority;  General  Scott  got 
only  eight  electoral  votes.  The  Whig  party,  who  had  lent 
their  aid  in  breaking  down  the  Missouri  Compromise,  ex 
hibited  such  a  want  of  strength  in  this  election  that  many 
of  weak  knees,  weaker  nerves,  and  still  weaker  principles 
and  softer  brains,  grew  tired  of  working  in  a  minority,  and, 
like  rats  in  a  sinking  ship,  began  at  once  to  look  about  for 
better  quarters. 

UNION   WHIGS   TURN   DEMOCRATIC   SECESSIONISTS. 

With  the  great  triumph  they  had  just  achieved  in  the 
election  of  Mr.  Pierce,  and  the  great  accession  to  their  ranks 
from  their  old  opponents,  the  Toombs's,  Stephens's,  Faulk- 
ners,  and  many  others  of  less  prominence  and  weight,  the 
Democratic  party  ran  wild  and  riotous  in  the  exuberance 
of  their  overgrown  power,  and  yet,  with  all  their  strength, 
they  knew  that,  without  some  new  issue  on  the  slavery 
question,  the  continuance  of  their  power  was  of  great  uncer 
tainty. 


110  THE   GEEAT   EEBELLIOX. 

Now  I  beg  you  to  recollect  what  I  Lave  already  said,  that 
at  this  time  there  was  no  territory  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the-  United  States  over  which  it  was  possible  to  get  up  a 
quarrel  or  excitement.  All  the  territory  acquired  by  the 
treaty  for  Louisiana  had  been  settled  by  the  Compromise 
of  1820,  which  had  stood  undisturbed  for  thirty  odd  years, 
until  it  had  become  as  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  na 
tion  as  a  part  of  the  Constitution  itself.  The  Legislature 
of  this  state  had  in  1847  declared,  by  a  vote  of  117  to  13, 
that  "  any  attempt  to  interfere  with  that  Compromise  would 
be  just  cause  for  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and  would  be 
resisted  at  all  hazards,  and  to  the  last  extremity ;"  and  the 
feeling  in  this  state  was  no  stronger  in  favor  of  that  healing 
measure  of  peace  than  in  other  portions  of  the  country 
North  and  South  ;  and  all  the  territory  acquired  by  the  war 
with  Mexico,  extending  from  the  Louisiana  purchase  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  was  provided  for  and  settled  by  the  Com 
promises  of  1850. 

THE   FUGITIVE    SLAVE   LAW. 

Thus  you  will  see  that  all  causes  of  dissension  had  been 
removed ;  old  sores  were  fast  healing  up ;  the  occasional  re 
sistance  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  alone  furnishing  ground 
of  complaint.  The  constitutionality  of  that  law  was  tested 
before  the  proper  tribunals  in  several  of  the  states,  and  in 
every  instance  judgment  was  pronounced  in  favor  of  the 
law ;  the  people  of  the  North  were  fast  becoming  recon 
ciled  to  it,  or  at  least  opposition  to  its  execution  was  on  the 
decline,  and  with  a  modification  of  the  obnoxious  features 
to  which  I  have  already  adverted,  and  which  did  not  add 
at  all  to  its  efficiency,  would  in  another  year  have  ceased 
altogether,  except  with  a  handful  of  the  most  violent  and 
mischievous  of  the  Abolitionists,  who  could  of  themselves 


TIIE   GKEAT   EEBELLION.  Ill 

have   offered   no    serious   obstacle   to   its   faithful   execu 
tion. 

Every  thing  had  so  far  quieted  down  that  John  P.  Hale, 
senator  from  IsTew  Hampshire,  declared  "  Othello's  occupa 
tion?  s  gone  y"  he  retired  from  the  Senate  and  set  up  a  law 
office  in  Wall  Street,  New  York,  and  every  patriot  in  the 
land  rejoiced  at  the  prospect  of  peace  between  the  differ 
ent  sections  of  the  country,  and  at  the  final  settlement  of 
this  disturbing  question  of  slavery  that  had  been  a  source 
of  constant  irritation  and  excitement  in  the  public  councils 
for  thirty  years. 

But  this  was  just  precisely  the  state  of  things  that  did 
not  suit  the  Democracy.  They  did  not  want  quiet;  they 
wanted  excitement.  They  did  not  want  the  question  of 
slavery  to  sleep ;  they  wanted  agitation.  They  did  not 
want  peace ;  they  wanted  icar.  They  did  not  want  Union, 
unaccompanied  with  the  power  of  the  government  in  their 
own  hands ;  they  wanted  secession  and  Southern  independ 
ence,  where  their  power  would  be  perpetual.  Therefore  it 
was  again  necessary  to  elect  a  Democratic  President  in  '56, 
or  the  Union  must  be  dissolved.  Do  you  doubt  this? 
Call  them  to  the  bar,  and  let  them  testify  on  oath  whether 
tliis  was  their  deliberate,  determined  purpose  or  not;  let 
them  answer  to  an  injured  and  deeply -wronged  people, 
whether  the  perpetuation  of  power  in  their  own  hands  has 
not  been  the  whole  and  sole  cause  of  this  infernal  war, 
which  will  cost  the  Southern  people,  every  thing  included, 
not  less  than  from  six  to  ten  thousand  millions  of  dollars 
before  they  get  through  with  it,  to  say  nothing  of  four  or 
five  hundred  thousand  lives  that  will  be  lost ;  and  how 
much  more,  the  Lord  only  knows,  if  the  principles  of  De 
mocracy,  as  applied  to  poor,  feeble  Mexico,  should  be  ex 
tended  to  them,  of  "  indemnity  for  the  past  and  security  for 


112  TIIE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

the  future,"  to  cover  the  whole  expenses  of  the  war  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States.  What  have  they  themselves  told 
us  for  the  last  twenty  years  ?  Has  there  been  a  Democrat 
ic  paper  published  in  the  South — has  there  been  a  Demo 
cratic  speaker  on  the  stump  within  that  period  that  has  not 
wrung  it  into  our  ears  over  and  over  again,  "THAT  IT  WAS 

NECESSARY   TO  ELECT  A  DEMOCRAT   TO    SAVE   THE  UNION?" 

which  it  is  now  manifest  meant  nothing  more  nor  less,  in 
plain  English,  than  this, "  that  whenever  the  ballot-box  fails 
to  secure  us  our  accustomed  triumph,  we  will  re'sort  to  the 
cartridge  -box  for  our  deliverance;  and  that  secession,  re 
bellion,  and  treason  will  all  be  encountered,  rather  than  sur 
render  the  power  we  have  so  long  enjoyed  and  abused." 

THE   DEMOCRACY    TO    RULE,  OR   DISUNION   TO   FOLLOW. 

The  people  could  not  be  made  to  believe  it.  Nobody 
took  it  for  any  thing  else  than  an  attempt  to  frighten  the 
weak-minded  and  timid  into  their  support;  they  did  not 
believe  any  party  base  enough,  bad  as  they  knew  this  par 
ty  to  be,  to  commit  such  a  deed  for  such  a  purpose,  nor 
did  they  believe  that  they  had  the  power,  if  they  had  the 
will ;  they  did  not  believe  that  that  old  Whig  conservative 
Union  element  in  the  South,  and  in  this  state  particularly, 
could  either  be  seduced  or  driven  into  such  a  measure  at 
the  dictation  of  a  mob  as  we  have  since  seen  it  done  with 
our  own  eyes.  There  has  been  no  time  within  the  last 
twelve  years  that  the  leaders  have  not  been  prepared  for  it 
on  a  failure  to  elect  their  candidate.  They  dared  not  try  it 
with  General  Taylor,  for  he  was  a  Southern  man,  and  a  large 
slaveholder,  although  every  where  denounced  as  an  Ab 
olitionist,  nor  had  they  any  confidence  in  his  Whiggery. 
They  would  not  have  dared  to  try  the  experiment  if  Gen 
eral  Scott  had  been  elected,  because  he  too  was  a  Southern 


THE    CHEAT   EEBELLIOX.  113 

man  of  known  conservative  views.  But  the  leaders  were 
not  only  rife  for  it  in  '56,  if  Fremont  had  been  elected,  but 
I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  same  course  of  events 
might  not  have  been  carried  out  then  as  now. 

DEVELOPMENT    OF   THE   CONSPIRACY. 

They  all  say  they  were  Union  men  until  Lincoln  issued  his 
proclamation,  but  this  I  have  shown  to  be  false.  This  proc 
lamation  was  for  the  protection  of  the  Capitol  at  Washing 
ton  and  of  his  own  life,  which  they  would  have  taken  in 
three  weeks  if  he  had  not  made  the  call,  the  design  being 
to  employ  a  body  of  men  collected  from  New  York,  New 
ark)  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Washington,  Alexandria,  Rich 
mond,  Petersburg,  and  Norfolk,  headed  by  two  leading  men 
of  the  South — one  from  Texas,  who  has  since  been  slain  in 
battle,  and  the  other  from  Virginia,  who  has  never  taken 
the  chances  of  being  slain.  I  knew  at  least  that  this  was 
the  opinion  of  Mr. Lincoln  when  he  issued  his  proclamation, 
for  I  was  cognizant  of  the  communication  that  was  made 
to  him  on  this  subject;  for  when  I  left  the  city  of  Washing 
ton  on  the  day  the  proclamation  was  issued,  the  windows  of 
a  portion  of  the  Treasury  building  had  already  been  barri 
caded.  Of  these  facts,  no  doubt,  abundant  proof  will  be 
found  hereafter." 

*  Nov.  5,  18G3. — Such  proof  now  begins  to  leak  out;  and  in  confirma 
tion  of  what  I  have  said,  I  take  the  following  editorial  paragraph  from  the 
Richmond  Sentinel  (the  recognized  organ  of  the  administration)  of  Nov. 
2,  1863,  edited  by  a  Mr.  Smith,  who  in  1860,  '61,  conducted  a  secession 
journal  in  Alexandria,  and  may  well  be  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  se 
crets  of  the  plot.  The  Sentinel  says,  "Indeed  a  formidable  organization 
existed  all  the  winter  in  Baltimore  and  the  counties  adjacent  to  Wash 
ington,  having  for  its  object  the  capture  of  that  city,  the  seizure  of  the 
government  officers,  and  the  inauguration  of  a  provisional  government  in 
the  interests  of  the  South.  Such  a  step  would  have  given  the  South  the 


114  THE   GREAT   EEBELLIOX. 

But  this  was  not  all.  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  had  boastfully 
threatened  "  that  the  North  should  smell  Southern  powder, 

command  of  the  United  States  Army  and  Navy  ;  it  would  have  consigned 
the  North  to  anarchy,  at  least  for  a  while — perhaps  to  a  civil  war  at  their 
own  doors ;  but  wise  and  politic  as  was  this  measure  in  the  eyes  of  those 
who  saw  the  value  of  striking  the  first  blow,  it  was  too  rash  to  be  hazard 
ed  until  the  support  of  Virginia  could  be  secured,  and  for  that  there  was 
no  chance." 

Here,  then,  is  a  precious  confession  by  a  precious  rebel  of  a  concerted 
scheme,  not  to  protect  or  "defend  the  South  from  a  ruthless,  heartless, 
savage  invasion  by  the  North,"  as  has  since  been  pretended ;  not  to  throw 
off  the  yoke  "of  an  intolerably  oppressive  government,"  and  to  set  up 
an  independent  government  for  themselves  simply,  as  the  people  have 
been  made  to  believe,  but  here  it  is  openly  avowed  that  there  was  a  for 
midable  organization  to  capture  the  Capitol  of  the  nation,  to  depose  the 
lawfully-elected  President  of  the  country,  and  inaugurate  a  provisional 
government  in  the  interests  of  the  South,  by  which  they  were  to  have  se 
cured  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  to  have  involved  the 
North  in  a  civil  war  at  home  among  themselves,  while  Southern  Democ 
racy  reveled  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  spoils  derived  from  their  own  hellish 
treason,  from  the  consequences  of  which  they  now  shrink,  and  piteously 
whine  that  "«//  they  ask  is  to  be  let  alone." 

Now  I  may  as  well  say  here  that  this  whole  scheme  was  fully  devel 
oped  to  me  on  the  8th  of  April,  1  SGI,  by  General  James  Wilson,  with 
whom  I  had  formerly  served  in  Congress — a  gentleman  of  the  highest 
respectability,  to  whom  it  had  been  disclosed  by  one  of  the  parties  impli 
cated,  as  being  a  part  of  the  plan  of  operations  contemplated  by  the  out 
side  Convention  which  met  in  the  city  of  Richmond  on  the  ICth  of  April, 
'G 1 .  General  Wilson,  who  now  resides  in  California,  mentioned  these  facts 
to  me  that  I  might  communicate  them  to  the  government,  which  I  did 
without  loss  of  time ;  I  went  at  once  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  whom  I  made  the 
communication,  and,  at  his  request,  I  rode  immediately  to  the  residence 
of  General  Scott,  who  was  then  engaged  in  planning  defenses  for  the 
city,  and  laid  all  the  facts  before  him.  When,  therefore,  upon  the  fall  of 
Sumter  (which  it  might  well  be  supposed  would  precipitate  the  contem 
plated  attack  on  Washington),  I  saw  the  proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
calling  for  the  seventy-five  thousand  troop?,  it  was  not  unnatural  to  con- 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  115 

and  feel  Southern  steel."  Mr.  Walker,  the  Secretary  of  War, 
at  Montgomery,  on  the  night  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  had 
declared  in  a  public  speech  that  the  Confederate  flag  should 
float  over  the  walls  of  the  Capitol  in  Washington  in  less 
than  thirty  days.  Mr.  Robert  Toombs  had  but  recently 
before  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  declared  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  that  the  day  was  not  distant 
when  he  would  be  able  to  call  the  roll  of  his  slaves  at  the 
foot  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument.  Mr.  Henry  A.  Wise  had, 
over  and  over  again, insisted  upon  fighting  for  "OUR  RIGHTS" 
m  the  Union,  which  every  body  seemed  puzzled  to  compre 
hend  ;  and  it  was  to  this  plan  that  the  South  was  commit 
ted  by  their  leaders,  to  possess  themselves  of  Washington, 
seize  upon  the  archives  of  the  nation,  get  control  of  the 
army,  navy,  and  treasury,  and  spread  Democracy  and  slav 
ery  all  over  the  United  States  in  the  event  of  their  success. 
Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  been  assassinated  in  1861  instead 
of  1865  ;  and  to  this  plan  of  operations  many  of  the  leading 
Northern  Democrats  had  pledged  their  support  (see  the 
speeches  of  General  Gantt),  which  would  have  developed 
itself  at  that  day  but  for  the  rashness  and  impetuosity  of 

elude  that  they  were  designed  to  repel  tins  lawless  and  treasonable  inva 
sion  of  the  Capitol  of  the  nation. 

The  overthrow  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the  subjugation 
of  the  North,  and  the  usurpation  of  the  powers  of  the  government  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Southern  Democracy,  is  the  war  which  from  the  first  I 
have  condemned,  and  which  to  the  last  I  shall  continue  to  denounce ; 
and  for  which  I  have  incurred  the  loss  of  my  personal  liberty,  and  the 
odium  and  opprobium  of  the  once  Union  men  of  the  South.  Let  them  who 
are  satisfied  with  the  results  up  to  this  time  and  with  the  prospects  for 
the  future  continue  to  lavish  their  epithets  against  me ;  but  let  all  others 
(if  they  dare  not  approve)  at  least  be  silent.  Thanks,  many  thanks  to  the 
Sentinel  for  this  open  avowal  of  the  purposes  of  this  rebellion.  Upon 
whom  does  it  establish  the  crime  of  treason? 


116  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

the  Southern  leaders,  who  precipitated  the  attack  upon  Fort 
Sumter,  by  a  declaration  made  to  the  people  of  Charleston 
through  their  agent  and  representative,  Mr.  Roger  A.  Pry- 
or,  on  the  10th  of  April,  that  upon  the  firing  of  the  first  gun 
Virginia  would  go  out;  but  so  startling  was  the  result 
upon  the  popular  mind  of  the  North,  that  it  was  more  than 
their  lives  would  have  been  worth  for  one  of  these  North 
ern  sympathizers  and  coadjutors  at  that  time  to  have  lent 
such  aid  or  have  expressed  such  sympathy,  which  has  been 
so  freely  and  fully  developed  since  that  time. 

Only  a  few  days  after  the  proclamation,  when  Mr.  Alex 
ander  II.  Stephens  came  on  to  Richmond  to  receive  this 
once  proud,  and  grand  old  commonwealth,  bound  hand  and 
foot  like  a  sheep  in  shambles, to  be  transferred  to  the  slaugh 
ter-house  of  the  Montgomery  government,  wherever  he 
stopped  on  the  cars  to  wood,  water,  or  eat,  he  addressed 
the  people,  and  his  whole  address  consisted  of  "On  to 
Washington,"  "  On  to  Washington,"  "  On  to  Washington." 
Yet  they  were  all  friends  to  the  Union  until  a  fatal  stab 
was  made  at  the  vitals  "  of  the  Union ;"  they  were  all 
friends  to  "  the  Constitution"  until  the  Constitution  was 
trampled  down  and  spit  upon ;  they  Avere  all  friends  to 
"  the  execution  of  the  laws"  until  it  became  necessary  to 
execute  them.  I  know  of  nothing  that  could  afford  a  stron 
ger  illustration  of  this  than  may  be  found  in  a  speech  deliv 
ered  by  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  in  the  city  of 
Richmond,  on  the  22d  of  April  last  (1861),  when  contrasted 
with  what  this  gentleman  had  said  only  a  few  weeks  before 
in  his  discussion  with  Mr.  Toombs,  and  again  repeated 
shortly  after,  with  still  more  force,  before  the  Georgia  Con 
vention.  This  Richmond  speech  I  append : 


TIIE   GEEAT   REBELLION.  117 

SPEECH  OF  ALEXANDER    II.  STEPHENS  AT  RICHMOND    IN   1861. 

The  following  is  from  the  Richmond  Dispatch  of  April 
23,1861: 

Serenade  to  Vice-president  Stephens.  —  Last  night,  at  the 
hour  of  9  o'clock,  a  large  number  of  citizens  congregated  in 
front  of  the  Exchange  Hotel,  with  the  First  Regiment  band, 
and  serenaded  the  Hon.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Vice-presi 
dent  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America.  The  distin 
guished  gentleman  was  introduced  to  the  throng  by  Mayor 
Mayo,  and  received  with  hearty  cheers.  In  response,  Mr. 
Stephens  returned  his  acknowledgments  for  the  warmth  of 
the  personal  greeting,  and  his  most  profound  thanks  for  it 
as  the  representative  of  the  Confederate  States.  He  spoke 
of  the  rejoicing  the  secession  of  Virginia  had  caused  among 
her  Southern  sisters.  Her  people  would  feel  justified  if 
they  could  hear  it  as  he  had.  He  would  not  speak  of  the 
states  who  were  out,  but  t'hose  who  were  in.  North  Caro 
lina  was  out,  and  did  not  know  exactly  how  she  got  out. 
The  fires  that  were  blazing  here  he  had  seen  all  along  his 
track  from  Montgomery  to  Richmond.  At  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  he  had  counted  on  one  street  twenty  flags 
of  the  Confederate  States. 

The  news  from  Tennessee  was  equally  cheering;  there 
the  mountains  were  on  fire.  Some  of  the  states  still  hesi 
tated,  but  soon  all  would  be  in.  Tennessee  was  no  longer 
in  the  late  Union.  She  was  out  by  resolutions  of  her  pop 
ular  assemblies  in  Memphis  and  other  cities.  Kentucky 
would  soon  be  out.  Her  people  were  moving.  Missouri — 
who  could  doubt  the  stand  she  would  take  when  her  gov 
ernor,  in  reply  to  Lincoln's  insolent  proclamation,  had  said, 
"  You  shall  have  no  troops  for  the  furtherance  of  your  illc- 


118  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

gal,  unchristian,  and  diabolical  schemes  ?"  Missouri  will 
soon  add  another  star  to  the  Southern  galaxy.  Where 
Maryland  is  you  all  know.  The  first  Southern  blood  had 
been  shed  on  her  soil,  and  Virginia  would  never  stand  idly 
by  and  see  her  citizens  shot  down.  The  cause  of  Baltimore 
was  the  cause  of  the  whole  South.  He  said  the  cause  we 
were  engaged  in  was  that  which  attached  people  to  the 
old  Constitution  of  the  late  United  States — it  was  the  cause 
of  civil,  religious,  and  constitutional  liberty.  Many  of  us 
looked  at  that  Constitution  as  the  anchor  of  safety.  In 
Georgia  the  people  had  been  attached  to  the  previous  Un 
ion,  but  the  Constitution  which  governed  it  was  framed  by 
Southern  talent  and  understanding.  Assaults  had  been 
made  on  it  ever  since  it  was  established ;  lately  a  latitudin- 
oas  construction  had  been  made  by  the  North,  while  we  of 
the  South  sought  to  interpret  it  as  it  wras — advocating  strict 
construction,  state  rights,  the  right  of  the  people  to  rule, 
etc.  He  spoke  of  all  the  fifteen  Southern  States  as  advocat 
ing  this  construction.  To  violate  the  principles  of  the  Con 
stitution  was  to  initiate  revolution,  and  the  Northern  States 
had  done  this. 

The  Constitution  framed  at  Montgomery  discarded  the 
obsolete  ideas  of  the  old  Constitution,  but  had  preserved 
its  better  portion,  with  some  modifications  suggested  by  the 
experience  of  the  past,  and  it  had  been  adopted  by  the  Con 
federate  States,  who  would  stand  to  it.  The  old  Constitu 
tion  had  been  made  an  engine  of  power  to  crush  out  lib 
erty,  that  of  the  Confederate  States  to  preserve  it.  The 
old  Constitution  was  improved  in  our  hands,  and  those  liv 
ing  under -it  had,  like  the  phcBnix,  risen  from  the  ashes. 
The  revolution  lately  begun  did  not  affect  alone  property, 
but  liberty.  He  alluded  to  Lincoln's  call  for  seventy-five 
thousand  volunteers,  and  said  he  could  find  no  authority  in 


THE   GKEAT   REBELLION.  119 

the  old  Constitution  for  such  a  flagrant  abuse  of  power. 
His  second  proclamation  had  stigmatized  as  pirates  all  who 
sailed  in  letters  of  marque;  this  was  also  in  violation  of  the 
Constitution,  which  alone  gave  Congress  that  power.  What 
had  the  friends  of  liberty  to  hope  for  ?  Beginning  in  usurp 
ation,  where  would  he  end  ?  You  were,  however,  said  he, 
no  longer  under  the  rule  of  this  tyrant.  With  strong  arms 
and  stout  hearts,  you  have  now  resolved  to  stand  in  defense 
of  liberty.  The  Confederate  States  had  but  asserted  their 
rights.  They  believed  that  their  rulers  derived  their  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  No  one  had  a 
right  to  deny  the  existence  of  the  sovereign  right  of  seces 
sion.  Our  people  did  not  want  to  meddle  with  the  North 
ern  States  —  only  wanted  the  latter  to  let  them  alone. 
When  did  Virginia  ever  ask  the  assistance  of  the  general 
government  ? 

If  there  is  sin  in  our  institutions,  we  bear  the  blame,  and 
will  stand  acquitted  by  natural  law  and  the  higher  law  of 
the  Creator.  We  stand  upon  the  law  of  God  and  nature. 
The  Southern  States  did  not  wish  a  resort  to  arms  after  se 
cession.  Mr.  Stephens  alluded  to  the  negotiations  between 
Major  Anderson  and  the  authorities  of  the  Confederate 
States  to  demonstrate  the  proposition.  History,  he  said,  if 
rightly  written,  would  acquit  us  of  a  desire  to  shed  our 
brothers'  blood. 

The  law  of  necessity  and  of  right  compelled  us  to  act  as 
we  did.  He  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  Creator  smiled 
on  it.  The  Federal  flag  was  taken  down  without  the  loss 
of  a  single  life.  He  believed  that  Providence  would  be 
with  us  and  bless  us  to  the  end.  We  had  appealed  to  the 
God  of  battles  for  the  justness  of  our  cause.  Madness  and 
folly  ruled  at  Washington.  Had  it  not  have  been  so,  sev 
eral  of  the  states  would  have  been  in  the  old  Union  for  a 


120  THE    GEEAT    REBELLION. 

year  to  come.  The  gods  first  made  mad  those  they  would 
destroy.  Maryland  would  join  us,  and  maybe,  ere  long,  the 
principles  that  "Washington -fought  for  might  be  again  ad 
ministered  in  the  city  that  bore  his  name.  Every  son  of 
the  South,  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande,  should  ral 
ly  to  the  support  of  Maryland.  If  Lincoln  quits  Washing 
ton  as  ignominiously  as  he  entered  it,  God's  will  will  have 
been  accomplished.  The  argument  was  now  exhausted. 
Be  prepared ;  stand  to  your  arms ;  defend  your  wives  and 
firesides.  He  alluded  to  the  momentous  consequences  of 
the  issue  involved.  Rather  than  be  conquered,  let  every 
second  man  rally  to  drive  back  the  invader.  The  conflict 
may  be  terrible,  but  the  victory  will  be  ours.  Virginians, 
said  he,  you  fight  for  the  preservation  of  your  sacred  rights 
— the  land  of  Patrick  Henry — to  keep  from  desecration  the 
tomb  of  Washington,  the  graves  of  Madison,  Jefferson,  and 
all  you  hold  most  dear. 

Why  did  not  Virginia  fly  to  arms  and  seize  on  all  the 
United  States  property  within  her  reach  on  the  proclama 
tion  of  Jackson  ?  Lincoln  had  more  cause  than  Jackson  to 
issue  a  proclamation,  for  no  one  threatened  to  march  on 
Washington  in  Jackson's  day.  No  one  had  fired  into  a  ves 
sel  sailing  under  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  as  was  the 
Star  of  the  West ;  no  one  had  seized  upon  all  the  arsenals, 
arms,  ammunition,  mints,  custom-houses,  post-offices,  and 
revenue  cutters  within  their  reach ;  no  one  had  forced  one 
of  the  forts  of  the  United  States  to  lower  and  dishonor  its 
flag;  and  yet  the  calling  of  seventy-five  thousand  men  for 
the  immediate  protection  of  the  puplic  property  and  public 
men  in  Washington  furnished  a  ready  excuse  for  all  those 
to  jump  into  rebellion  who  had  not  the  courage  or  manli 
ness  to  stay  out  of  it,  when  they  were  threatened  to  bo 


THE    GREAT   KEEELLIOX.  121 

turned  out  of  doors  by  a  lawless  mob  if  they  did  not  go  in 
for  it.  As  the  President  of  the  Convention,  John  Janney, 
Esq.,  said  to  a  friend  of  mine,  as  he  left  the  Convention  on 
the  day  the  ordinance  was  passed, "  The  proclamation  was 
not  the  cause  of  secession,  it  only  served  as  a  bridge  for  the 
Convention  to  pass  over  on."* 

*  For  the  following  important  statistics  I  am  indebted  to  M'Pherson's 
History  of  the  Rebellion,  first  edition. 

In  the  year  18GO,  Mr.  Floyd,  then  Secretary  of  War,  sold  and  transferred 
from  Northern  to  Southern  arsenals  the  following  arms : 

Sold,  31,610  muskets,  at  $2  50  each;  25,000  do.,  do.,  to  Belknap,  of 
Texas;  and  250,000,  at  $2  15  each,  which  Secretary  Holt  refused  to  con 
firm.  Of  arms  transferred  from  Northern  to  Southern  arsenals  and 
states,  there  were,  of  percussion  muskets,  105,000;  rifles,  10,000;  colum- 
biads  ordered,  110  ;  and  of  thirty-two  pounders,  1.1. 

Of  property  seized  by  Southern  States  prior  to  March  4,  1861,  there 
was  in  South  Carolina,  Fort  Moultrie,  Castle  Pinckney,  the  United  States 
Arsenal,  with  70,000  stand  of  arms,  with  other  stores;  post-offices  and 
custom-houses,  with  their  contents ;  light-house  tender,  schooner  William 
Aiken,  steamer  Marion,  etc.  The  United  States  steamer  was  fired  into, 
and  Fort  Sumter  taken,  before  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation  for 
75,000  men. 

Georgia  had  seized  Forts  Pulaski  and  Jackson,  arsenal  at  Augusta,  con 
taining  two  twelve -pound  howitzers,  two  cannon,  and  22,000  muskets 
and  rifles,  large  stores  of  powder,  balls,  grape,  etc.  They  also  seized  the 
United  States  steamer  Ida,  brig  N.  R.  Kilby,  and  seven  other  New  York 
vessels,  together  with  the  Custom-house,  with  all  the  money  therein. 

Florida  seized  the  navy  yard,  Forts  Barrancas  and  M'Rae,  Fort  Mason, 
and  arsenal  at  St.  Augustine  ;  the  Chattahoochee  Arsenal,  containing 
500,000  musket-cartridges  and  300,000  rifle  do.  ;  50,000  pounds  of  pow 
der,  besides  coast  survey-steamer,  etc. 

Alabama  had  taken  Fort  Morgan,  with  5000  shot  and  shell;  Mount 
Vernon  Arsenal,  with  120,000  stand  of  arms,  150,000  pounds  of  powder, 
and  a  large  amount  of  other  munitions  of  war,  and  revenue  cutter  Lewis 
Cass. 

Mississippi  had  taken  the  fort  on  Ship  Island  and  United  States  hos 
pital  on  the  Mississippi  River. 

F 


122  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

A   RETROSPECTIVE   GLANCE. 

But  this  theme  is  so  fruitful  that  I  find  it  difficult  to  con 
fine  myself  to  proper  limits.  Let  me  get  back  to  Wasbing- 

Louisiana  had  taken  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  on  the  Mississippi, 
and  Fort  Pike,  on  Pontchartrain ;  arsenal  at  Baton  Rouge,  with  50,000 
small-arms,  four  howitzers,  twenty  heavy  pieces  of  ordinance,  two  bat 
teries,  and  300  barrels  of  powder,  hospital,  etc.  ;  at  New  Orleans,  the 
Mint  and  Custom-house,  containing  $599,303  in  gold  and  silver,  which 
was  transferred  to  the  Confederate  government;  the  armament  of  the 
revenue  cutter  at  Belleville,  iron-works,  quartermaster's  and  commissary's 
stores  to  a  very  large  amount,  and  the  revenue  cutter  M'Clellan. 

Texas  had  taken  the  United  States  government  stores  on  board  steam 
er  Texas,  Forts  Chadbourne  and  Belknap,  Fort  Brown,  revenue  cutter 
Dodge,  $55,000  in  specie,  35,000  stand  of  arms,  twenty-six  pieces  of 
mounted  artillery,  forty-four  dismounted  do. ;  munitions,  horses,  wagons, 
forage,  etc.,  amounting  to  about  $1,300,000. 

Arkansas  had  seized  the  arsenal  at  Little  Rock,  with  9000  stand  of 
arms,  forty  cannon,  and  large  quantities  of  ammunition. 

On  the  29th  of  February,  1SG1,  four  days  before  the  inauguration  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  by  act  of  the  Confederate  government,  Mr.  President  Davis 
was  directed  to  assume  control  of  all  military  operations  in  the  several 
states  in  rebellion,  and  was  authorized  to  receive  into  government  service 
such  forces  of  these  states  as  may  be  tendered  for  any  time  not  less  than 
twelve  months,  and  on  the  Gth  of  March  was  authorized  to  employ  the 
military  and  naval  forces  of  the  Confederate  government  to  the  extent  of 
100,000  men  for  twelve  months. 

-  In  the  spring  of  1861,  the  Mobile  Advertiser  said,  "During  the  past 
year  135,430  muskets  have  been  quietly  transferred  from  the  Northern 
Arsenal  at  Springfield  alone  to  those  in  the  Southern  States.  We  are 
much  obliged  to  Secretary  Floyd  for  the  foresight  he  has  thus  displayed  in 
disarming  the  North  and  equipping  the  South  for  this  emergency.  There 
is  no  telling  the  amount  of  arms  and  munitions  which  were  sent  South 
from  Northern  arsenals.  There  is  no  doubt  that  every  man  in  the  South 
who  can  carry  a  gun  can  be  supplied  from  private  or  public  sources. 
The  Springfield  supply  alone  would  supply  all  the  militia-men  in  Alaba 
ma  and  Mississippi." 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  123 

ton  in  1854,  when,  as  I  said,  every  patriotic  heart  was  re 
joicing  at  the  prospect  of  harmony  between  North  and 
South,  because  there  was  nothing  for  them  to  quarrel  about. 
Yet  in  the  first  year  of  Mr.  Pierce's  administration  the 
party  began  to  quarrel  among  themselves  over  the  spoils, 
and  the  appointments  in  New  York  had  split  the  Democra 
cy  into  the  "  Hard  and  Soft  Shells,"  as  they  were  called, 
and  they  were  actually  in  that  short  time  themselves  de 
moralized  and  fearfully  divided.  It  became  necessary,  there 
fore,  to  get  up  another  exciting  slavery  issue  for  the  can 
vass  of  '56.  For  a  long  time  it  puzzled  their  wits  to  find 
one,  but  one  must  be  manufactured,  and  it  was  done. 

Accordingly,  on  a  certain  Sabbath  morning,  some  five  or 
-six  leading  secessionists'  met,  whether  accidentally  or  not 
I  am  not  informed,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
most  efficient  and  only  means  left  of  creating  excitement 
and  agitation,  and  of  stirring  tip  the  worst  passions  of  the 
multitude  in  sectional  controversy,  and  of  preparing  an  en- 

On  the  13th  of  April,  18G1,  on  the  day  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  and 
two  days  before  the  proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  Richmond  Inquirer 
published  the  following  article,  "  Attention,  Volunteers !  Nothing  is  more 
probable  than  that  President  Davis  will  soon  march  an  army  through 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia  to  Washington  ;  those  of  our  volunteers  who 
desire  to  join  the  Southern  Army,  as  it  shall  pass  through  our  borders, 
had  better  organize  at  once  for  that  purpose,  and  keep  their  army  ac 
coutrements,  uniforms,  ammunition,  and  knapsacks  in  constant  readi 
ness." 

And  it  was  after  these  most  extensive  robberies  of  public  property,  and 
still  more  extensive  preparations  for  invading  the  Capitol  at  Washington 
— of  taking  possession  of  the  archives  of  the  government,  and  spreading 
Democracy  and  slavery  over  the  whole  country — that  the  most  extraordi 
nary  consternation  was  produced  on  the  public  mind,  and  which  ran 
every  body  crazy,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  called  for  seventy-five  thousand 
men  for  his  own  protection,  and  the  safety  of  the  Capitol  and  all  its  ar 
chives. 


124  THE   GEEAT   REBELLION. 

tering  wedge  winch  would  sooner  or  later  enable  them  to 
split  the  Union  in  twain,  would  be  the  repeal  of  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise,  the  first  in  the  long  series  of  compromises 
which  had  been  received  throughout  the  South  at  the  time 
of  its  adoption  as  a  great  Southern  triumph,  which  had  be 
come  sanctified  by  the  lapse  of  a  third  of  a  century,  and  had 
become  consecrated  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  The  result 
has  shown  that  they  calculated  wisely  as  to  the  effect  to  be 
produced ;  for  out  of  this  iniquitous  step  has  grown  all  our 
troubles,  and  the  universal  ruin  that  awaits  us;  and  few  gave 
more  efficient  aid  to  this  outrage  than  the  two  senators 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Hunter,  whose  state  had  just  before  de 
clared  that  "such  an  act"  would  be  just  cause  for  a  disso 
lution  of  the  Union,  and  would  be  resisted  "  at  all  hazards, 
and  to  the  last  extremity." 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that,  out  of  thirty  millions  of  peo 
ple,  not  one  human  being  outside  of  the  political  circles  in 
Washington  had  murmured  or  complained ;  not  a  single 
application  from  any  quarter  had  arisen  to  justify  this  most 
unwarrantable  and  flagitious  movement. 

THE   EEPEAL    OF   THE   MISSOUEI    COMPEOMISE. 

In  the  afternoon  of  that  same  Sabbath,  these  half  dozen 
gentlemen  waited  on  Mr.  Pierce  to  communicate  the  result 
of  their  deliberations,  and  to  represent  to  him  the  import 
ance  of  the  measure  as  a  means  of  securing  a  Democratic 
triumph  in  '56.  He  declined  to  receive  them,  alleging  that 
he  did  not  transact  political  business  on  the  Sabbath — so  at 
least  ran  the  gossip  of  Washington  at  that  day,  which  also 
gave  assurance.. that  there  were  other  "potent  influences" 
besides  those  of  a  devotional  nature  that  forbade  the  inter 
view.  Be  this  as  it  may,  great,  but  temporary  offense  only, 
it  was  said,  was  given  by  this  procrastination  of  a  day;  and 


THE    GREAT   KEBELLIOX.  125 

when  the  visit  was  repeated  on  the  next  day,  and  the  sub 
ject  was  broached,  Mr.  Pierce  was  said  to  have  been  very 
decided  in  his  opposition ;  his  organ,  the  Union,  certainly 
took  very  strong  ground  against  it,  but,  of  course,  when  it 
was  made  clear  to  his  mind  that  this  measure  of  abomina 
tion  was  indispensable  to  the  success  of  the  Democratic  nom 
ination  in  '56,  which  he  hoped,  and,  perhaps,  did  not  doubt 
would  fall  on  his  own  shoulders,  at  least  as  a  reward  for  his 
acquiescence,  it  did  not  require  much  time  or  labor  to  re 
move  his  objections ;  the  temptation  was  too  strong ;  he 
could  wait  no  longer ;  he  acquiesced,  and  took  the  matter 
under  his  own  especial  charge  and  management.  At  the 
same  time,  it  was  necessary  to  win  over  the  "  Little  Giant 
of  the  West,"  the  late  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  without  whose 
co-operation,  not  only  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Territories,  but  as  the  leader  of  a  very  formidable  wing  of 
the  Democracy,  there  was  no  hope  of  its  passage.  To  him, 
also,  was  the  glittering  prize  of  a  nomination  held  up  as  a 
reward  for  any  disinterested  sacrifice  he  might  make  in  the 
premises ;  the  temptation  was  too  strong  for  him  too ;  he 
could  resist  no  longer,  and  swallowed  at  one  gulp  all  that 
he  had  so  often  committed  himself  to  in  the  most  unequiv 
ocal  terms  on  the  subject  of  this  compromise;  he  became  a 
competitor  with  Mr.  Pierce,  and  it  was  from  that  time  a 
struggle  between  the  two  which  should  play  the  most 
prominent  part  in  the  great  drama  that  was  to  result  in 
the  bloodiest,  most  destructive,  and  costly  civil  war  known 
to  ancient  or  modern  times. 

There  is  much  of  this  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  there 
is  no  record  proof  to  be  found,  but  I  give  you  what  was 
generally  spoken  of  in  the  political  circles  of  Washington  at 
that  time — every  where  received  as  true  and  authentic,  and 
which  has  never,  to  my  knowledge,  been  denied,  and  which 


126  THE    GKEAT   REBELLION. 

after  circumstances  fully  sustained.  The  occasion  was  too 
important,  the  opportunity  too  favorable  for  the  selfishness 
of  the  greedy  and  hungry  leaders  of  the  old  Whig  party, 
now  thoroughly  demoralized  in  every  sense,  not  to  make 
themselves  acceptable  to  the  Democracy.  In  a  body  as 
one  man,  or  like  automatons  moved  by  machinery,  they  all 
fell  into  line,  and  went  to  work  with  all  their  might  and 
main,  in  season. and  out  of  season,  to  aid  in  this  mischiev 
ous,  wicked,  nefarious  work. 

JOHN   BELL,  OF   TENNESSEE. 

There  was  one  man  who  has  the  credit  of  having  resisted 
it,  but  it  is  not  so ;  and  that  was  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee. 
The  running  debate  between  himself  and  Mr.  Toombs  in 
the  Senate  will  show  that  he  attended  their  secret  caucus 
es,  and  gave  them  all  the  aid  and  comfort  he  could  impart. 
He  had  the  will,  but  not  the  courage  to  face  the  storm  that 
was  rising  up  not  only  in  the  North,  but  in  his  own  State 
of  Tennessee,  through  the  combined  efforts  of  those  of  his 
colleagues  in  the  House,  Etheridge,  Cullom,  and  Bung. 

"  He  was  prepared  to  vote  with  his  friends  on  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  on  the  ground  of  its  unconsti- 
tutionality,  but  was  not  exactly  prepared  to  vote  for  that 
bill  because  it  violated  our  treaty  obligations  with  the  In 
dians  ;"  this  was  repeated  several  times  in  my  hearing  dur 
ing  his  speech  on  the  bill,  though  possibly  not  to  be  found 
in  his  published  speech,  which  did  not  appear  for  some  five 
or  six  weeks  after  its  delivery,  when  the  Northern  storm 
had  nearly  reached  its  height,  and  it  was  found  to  be  a 
dangerous  experiment  for  any  aspiring  politician  to  face  it ; 
and  for  this,  as  well  as  for  his  unsuccessful  efforts  to  dodge 
the  final  vote,  this  gentleman  was  afterward  honored  with 
a  nomination  for  the  Presidency  upon  the  platform  of  "The 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  127 

Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Enforcement-of  the  Laws." 
The  nomination  he  accepted,  the  platform  he  adopted,  and 
stood  firmly  upon  it  while  there  was  a  hope  that  it  would 
lead  him  into  office ;  but  the  moment  it  failed  to  do  that,  he 
kicked  the  platform  from  under  his  feet,  and  was  among 
the  first  to  join  in  breaking  down  the  Union,  trampling 
upon  the  Constitution,  and  resisting,  by  a  resort  to  civil 
war,  tae  enforcement  of  the  laws ;  and  for  this  man  I  was 
fool  enough  to  vote  (for  which  God  forgive  me),  and  I  la 
bored  for  his  success  day  and  night,  because  I  thought  if  he 
was  unselfish  in  nothing  else,  and  was  politically  to  be  re 
lied  on  for  nothing  else,  he  was  to  be  trusted  for  his  devo 
tion  to  the  Union ;  and  I  owe  an  apology  now,  which  is 
here  tendered  to  all  those  whom  I  may  have  misled  on  this 
subject  as  I  was  misled  myself. 

But  I  was  misled  by  Mr.  Bell  himself,  who,  in  a  speech 
delivered  in  Memphis  in  August,  1859,  had  said,  "I  am  will 
ing  to  co-operate  with  the  Black  Republicans  of  the  North 
for  the  sake  of  preserving  this  government  and  perpetua 
ting  the  American  Union.  I  am  willing  to  co-operate  with 
the  corrupt  and  profligate  leaders  of  the  Democracy  to  ac 
complish  the  same  desirable  object."  It  was  such  language 
as  this  that  secured  him  the  confidence  of  the  friends  of  the 
Union.  It  was  such  sentiments  as  these  that  secured  him 
the  nomination  and  support  of  the  Union  party  of  the 
United  States ;  and  yet,  in  less  than  one  year  from  the  time 
he  made  that  speech,  he  was  found  actively  co-operating 
with  these  same  corrupt  and  profligate  leaders  of  Democ 
racy  to  destroy  the  Union. 

HISTORY    OF   THE   MISSOURI   COMPROMISE. 

As  several  generations  have  passed  away,  and  others 
sprung  up  to  supply  their  places,  and  millions  of  the  foreign 


128  THE    CHEAT   REBELLION. 

population  have  sought  a  home  upon  our  shores  since  the 
adoption  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  in  1820,  it  is  not  un 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  number  of  our  people  who 
understand  the  nature  of  this  memorable  compact  between 
the  ISTorth  and  the' South  is  quite  limited,  and  in  this  view 
it  is  deemed  important  that  the  history  of  this  Compromise, 
and  its  repeal  as  the  proximate  cause  of  the  war,  should  be 
given  in  this  letter;  and  I  know  of  no  more  convenient 
form  in  which  it  can  be  given  than  by  copying  here  what  I 
said  in  what  is  known  as  my  African  Church  speech,  deliv 
ered  in  1856.  The  present  is  a  propitious  time  for  its  close 
study.  Speaking  of  the  Democrats,  I  said, 

"They  have  made  the  issue  for  themselves,  and  I  stand 
here  to-night  ready  to  address  an  argument  to  you,  the 
people  of  Richmond,  and  through  you  to  the  people  of  the 
state,  including  persons  of  all  parties  whose  minds  are  open 
to  conviction,  and  who  are  unprejudiced  and  impartial — to 
those  who  are  anxious,  at  least  willing  to  ascertain  the  true 
condition  of  things  in  this  country,  and  to  be  governed  by 
their  convictions. 

"All  arguments  are  thrown  away  upon  those  benighted, 
ignorant,  and  besotted  partisans  who  prefer  party  to  coun 
try  ;  but  if  there  are  any  here  of  the  Democratic  party,  or 
of  any  other  party,  whose  minds  are  open  to  conviction, 
and  who  prefer  their  country  to  their  party,  I  think  I  may 
say,  that  before  I  have  concluded,  if  they  will  give  me  their 
patient  attention,  I  will  show  them  that,  instead  of  coming 
forward  with  a  boldness  and  audacity,  defying  all  shame, 
singing  that  sweet  siren  song  which  we  have  heard  period 
ically  for  the  last  twenty  years  of  '  help  us  to  save  the  Un 
ion?  this  Democratic  party  would  bow  their  heads  in  shame, 
and  ask  forgiveness  for  the  past,  and.  more  especially  would 
they  ask  forgiveness  of  the  South,  and,  like  honest  men  and 


THE   GEE  AT   EEBELLION.  129 

patriots,  if  there  was  patriotism  among  them,  they  would 
acknowledge  their  incapacity  to  administer  the  government 
with  credit  to  themselves  or  advantage  to  the  country,  and 
ask  to  be  relieved  of  the  responsibilities  resting  upon  them. 

"  They  have  said  that  the  great  issue  in  this  contest  was, 
and  should  be,  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  I 
permit  the  party  to  make  their  own  issue,  and  I  meet  them. 
Let  us  see  how  that  issue  stands.  I  am  gratified  that  the 
opportunity  is  at  length  afforded  me  of  addressing  an  argu 
ment  on  this  subject  to  all  true  friends  of  the  South,  for 
the  public  press  has  been  closed  to  all  arguments  except 
upon  one  side,  and  that  the  wrong  side ;  and  it  would  be 
strange  indeed  if  the  people  were  not  misled  under  such  cir 
cumstances. 

"  Now  let  me  ask  you,  first,  what  was  this  Missouri  Com 
promise  ?  What  were  the  circumstances  under  which  it 
was  adopted  ?  What  were  its  fruits  ?  By  whom  were 
they  enjoyed?  And  what  has  been  the  effect  of  its  repeal? 

"  I  set  out  with  the  declaration,  as  being  the  most  con 
scientious  conviction  of  my  best  judgment,  feeble  and  im 
perfect  as  I  acknowledge  and  know  it  to  be,  but  I  set  out 
with  the  declaration  that,  according  to  the  best  convictions 
of  my  judgment,  that  Missouri  Compromise,  at  the  time  and" 
under  the  circumstances  it  was  adopted,  was  for  the  peace 
of  the  country,  for  the  interests  of  the  South,  and  for  the 
perpetuity  of  the  Union — beyond  all  question,  the  best  and 
wisest  measure  that  ever  obtained  the  sanction  of  an  Amer 
ican  Congress ;  and  that,  consequently,  its  repeal,  with  the 
consequences  and  circumstances  that  have  grown  out  of  it, 
was  the  most  wanton,  the  most  mischievous,  the  most  sui 
cidal,  and  the  most  unpardonable  act  that  ever  was  commit 
ted  by  the  representatives  of  the  people. 

"  In  tracing  the  history  of  this  Missouri  Compromise,  it 
F2 


130  THE    GKEAT    KEBELLIOX. 

will  be  necessary  that  I  shall  go  back  to  the  time  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  even  a  little  beyond  that. 
At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Constitution,  and  of  the 
United  States  government  under  it,  there  was  a  large  ter 
ritory  lying  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River,  known  as  the 
.Northwestern  Territory.  This  was  provided  for  by  those 
who  participated  in  the  Revolution,  and  in  the  formation  of 
the  Constitution,  by  the  application  of  what  has  since  been 
known  as  the  Wilmot  Proviso — that  is  to  say,  that  slavery 
in  all  the  territory  then  belonging  to  the  United  States 
should  be  prohibited.  That  law  has  been  recognized,  and 
has  been  in  practical  operation,  with  no  attempt  to  interfere 
with  it,  from  that  time  to  this — that  is,  from  1787  down  to 
1856.  In  the  year  1803,  by  a  treaty  that  was  negotiated 
during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  we  acquired 
from  the  government  of  France  what  was  known  as  the 
Louisiana  Territory.  This  territory  constituting  no  part  of 
the  Northwestern  Territory,  which  had  been  provided  for 
by  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  gave  rise  to  extreme  difficulties 
between  the  North  and  the  South  in  reference  to  this  ques 
tion  of  slavery.  Out  of  a  portion  of  that  territory  acquired 
from  Louisiana  the  State  of  Missouri  was  formed,  and  she 
asked  for  admission  into  the  Union.  The  Northern  States 
having  at  that  time  acquired  a  superiority  in  numbers,  had 
it  in  their  power  to  refuse  the  admission  of  Missouri,  except 
upon  the  condition  that  slavery  should  be  excluded,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  Ordinance  of  1787  should  be  applied 
also  to  that  territory.  It  was  necessary  to  settle  the  ques 
tion  in  some  form.  It  was  obliged  to  be  settled,  either  by 
the  minority  or  by  the  majority,  in  Congress,  and  we  of  the 
South  unfortunately  constituted  the  minority.  At  length 
this  far-famed  Missouri  Compromise  was  introduced,  not  by 
the  North,  but  by  the  South,  pretty  much  under  the  same 


THE    GEEAT   EEBELLIOX.  131 

circumstances,  however,  that  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  was  introduced  in  1854;  they  selected  a  Northern 
man  to  introduce  it,  but  it  was  first  agreed  upon  as  a  South 
ern  measure,  and  it  was  passed  by  Southern  votes. 

"  And  what  was  it  that  was  thus  agreed  to  by  the  South 
and  passed  by  the  South?  It  was  not,  as  has  been  com 
monly  said,  a  measure  imposed  upon  the  South  by  the 
North.  It  was  proposed  on  the  part  of  the  South  to  the 
North,  'that  if  you  will  allow  us — you  being  in  the  majori 
ty  and  having  the  control  —  if  you  will  permit  us  to  carry 
slavery  up  to  the  line  of  36°  30',  we  will  pledge  ourselves 
not  to  attempt  to  carry  slavery  beyond  36°  30'.'  They 
said,  'We  will  allow  every  state  south  of  36°  30'  that 
chooses  to  adopt  slavery  or  reject  it,  as  they  please ;  but  if 
they  make  an  application  to  Congress,  as  the  people  of  Mis 
souri  have  done,  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  slave  states, 
then  you  shall  make  no  objection  to  their  admission  on  the 
ground  that  they  recognize  slavery ;'  and  the  South,  with 
the  aid  of  a  few  of  the  Northern  votes,  was  able  to  carry 
the  measure.  We  find  that  this  measure  was  voted  for  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  by  c  twenty'  out  of  the 
'twenty-two'  Southern  senators  —  only  two  Southern  sena 
tors  voting  against  it,  and  only  four  Northern  senators  vot 
ing  for  it.  And  those  who  voted  for  it  were,  Barbour  and 
Pleasants,  of  Virginia,  Brown  and  Johnson,  of  Louisiana, 
Eaton  and  Williams,  of  Tennessee,  Elliott  and  Walker,  of 
Georgia,  Galliard,  of  South  Carolina,  Johnson  and  Logan, 
of  Kentucky,  Loyd  and  Pinckney,  of  Maryland,  King  (the 
late  William  R.)  and  Walker,  of  Alabama,  Leake  and  Wil 
liams,  of  Mississippi,  Van  Dyke  and  Horner,  of  Delaware, 
and  Stokes,  of  North  Carolina,  making  twenty  Southern 
senators,  and  four  from  the  North.  Mr.  Macon,  of  North 
Carolina,  and  Mr.  Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  were  the  only 


132  THE   GEEAT   REBELLION. 

two  Southern  senators  that  voted  against  it,  while  only  four 
Northern  senators  voted  for  it,  and  eighteen  against  it.  It 
went  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  it  passed  that 
body  by  a  vote  of  134  to  42 — forty  Southern  representatives 
voting  for  it,  and  thirty-seven  against  it.  Thus  was  the 
Compromise  of  1820  brought  about.  And  the  history  of 
that  day  will  show  that  it  was  regarded  (as  it  really  was) 
as  a  great  Southern  triumph,  in  which  the  North  reluctant 
ly  acquiesced.  The  most  distinguished  Southern  men,  in 
cluding  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Lowndes,  Mr.  William  Smith,  Louis 
M'Lane,  and  others  being  its  chief  advocates.  And  upon 
its  final  passage  it  was  submitted  to  Mr.  Monroe  for  his 
signature ;  and  there  being  some  wiseacres  at  that  day,  as 
there  are  at  all  times,  who  set  up  the  pretension  that  it  was 
a  violation  of  the  Constitution  for  us  to  agree  not  to  do 
what  it  was  contended  we  had  a  right  to  do  for  the  sake  of 
the  peace,  the  harmony,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  country, 
Mr.  Monroe  submitted  the  constitutionality  of  that  measure 
to  his  Cabinet  —  of  which  John  C.  Calhoun  was  one,  Mr. 
Crawford  another,  and  Mr.  Wirt,  of  Virginia,  a  third  —  and 
he  required  a  written  opinion  of  each  member  of  his  Cabinet 
upon  the  constitutionality  of  this  Missouri  Compromise. 
The  Cabinet  were  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  the  law 
was  in  strict  and  perfect  conformity  with  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  It  must  be  admitted  that  these  were 
mere  pigmies  in  comparison  with  the  giants  and  the  dwarfs 
of  the  present  day.  But  when  the  bill  became  a  law,  it 
was  received  throughout  the  South  with  the  ringing  of  bells 
and  the  firing  of  cannon,  with  illuminations  and  shouts  of 
joy  and  gladness,  and  heralded  every  where  as  a  great 
Southern  victory. 

"Under  the  operation  of  that  law  to  which  the  integrity 
and  the  honor  of  the  South  was  pledged,  the  South  obtained 


THE    GEEAT   IlEBELLIOX.  133 

the  admission  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  as  slave  states 
when  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  North  to  have  rejected 
them.  They  also  obtained  the  admission  of  Florida  as  a 
slave  state,  Texas  as  a  slave  state,  and  never  —  never  while 
there  was  an  opportunity  to  make  a  slave  state  out  of 
Southern  territory — did  they  dream  that  it  was  proper  to 
repeal  that  law.  But  when  they  had  populated  all  their 
own  territories,  and  obtained  the  admission  of  all  their  slave 
states,  when  there  was  no  necessity  for  it  whatever,  they 
attempted  to  rob  the  North  of  its  just  due,  and  thereby 
dishonestly  sacrificed  the  integrity  and  honor  of  the  South, 
that  were  pledged  to  carry  out  in  good  faith  the  bargain 
entered  into.  But  I  will  show  before  I  get  through  that 
it  was  never  the  object  of  this  Democratic  party  to  sanction 
any  thing  that  would  produce  peace  and  harmony  in  the 
country;  that  their  object  was  to  keep  up  agitation  on  the 
slavery  question,  and  that  it  was  their  purpose  that  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise  should  be  disturbed  in  order  to  agitate 
the  question  of  slavery,  and  provoke  resistance  to  the  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law  in  order  to  agitate. 

REPEAL    OF   THE    21ST   EULE. 

"Things  went  on  in  this  way  pretty  satisfactorily  for 
some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  when  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  great 
leader  of  the  Southern  States'-rights  party,  set  himself  to 
work,  as  seemed  to  be  his  object  to  the  last  moment  of  his 
life,  to  excite  the  apprehension  and  alarm  of  the  Southern 
people  upon  the  question  of  slavery,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to 
unite  the  South — to  unite  us,  the  Whigs  of  the  South,  with 
the  Democrats  —  upon  the  subject  of  slavery;  and  every 
man  of  the  Whig  party,  every  politician  of  the  Whig  party, 
every  press  in  the  Whig  or  American  interests  that  has 
aided  in  keeping  up  this  agitation  have  only  added  strength 


134  THE    GKEAT   REBELLION. 

to  the  Democratic  party,  and  aided  them  to  rivet  a  chain 
on  their  necks  that  they  will  wear  as  long  as  they  live,  or 
until  the  people  become  better  informed  as  to  their  objects. 
It  was  for  these  reasons,  because  there  was  too  much  peace 
in  the  country,  that  they  could  not  remain  satisfied ;  and 
there  being  a  contemptible  handful  in  the  North  at  that 
time  who  were  not  of  sufficient  consequence  to  disturb  any 
body  or  any  body's  property,  we  were  daily  warned  to  for 
tify  ourselves  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  Then  it  was 
that  the  famous  'twenty-first  rule'  was  gotten  up  for  the 
purpose  of  exciting  the  Abolitionists  into  an  issue  with  us, 
whereby  the  great  constitutional  right  of  petition  was  de 
nied  to  the  people.  Men  in  the  South  who  claimed  the 
right  of  the  constituent  body  to  instruct  their  representa 
tives,  were  guilty  of  the  supreme  folly  of  denying  to  the 
same  body  their  right  to  petition.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
these  things  produced  a  very  angry  state  of  feeling  in  the 
North.  The  right  of  petition  was  blended  with  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery,  and  it  fell  to  my  lot  upon  that  occasion  to 
stand  in  the  minority  of  one  or  two  in  the  whole  Southern 
country  until  parties  of  every  complexion  came  up  to  my 
position ;  and  at  last  the  Democratic  party  themselves,  see 
ing  the  incalculable  mischief  which  was  likely  to  grow  out 
of  it,  repealed  the  l  twenty-first  rule,'  and  from  that  day 
to  this  the  question  has  remained  settled  as  far  as  abolition 
petitions  are  concerned ;  for  while  there  were  upward  of 
six  thousand  abolition  petitions  presented  to  Congress  dur 
ing  the  session  preceding  that  in  which  the  'twenty -first 
rule'  was  repealed,  there  were  only  about  six  in  all  present 
ed  at  the  session  following  that  repeal — thus  showing  how 
infinitely  the  practical  operation  of  that  famous  'twenty-first 
rule,'  which  Mr.  Calhoun  had  a  large  share  in  getting  up, 
had  weakened  the  South  and  strengthened  the  Abolition 


THE   GEE  AT   REBELLION.  135 

party  at  the  North,  which  had  by  this  time  become  a  for 
midable  power  by  this  false  issue  presented  by  the  peculiar 
champions  of  Southern  rights.  Still,  it  accomplished  the 
great  object  had  in  view  by  the  leaders  of  Democracy.  It 
kept  alive  agitation,  and  there  were  continual  appeals  to 
Southern  men  of  every  political  shade  and  complexion  to 
unite  for  the  safety  of  the  South  on  the  slavery  question, 
and  form  a  sectional  party  that  would  present  a  united 
front,  of  which  Mr.  Calhoun  was  to  be  the  leader,  and  which 
was  to  inure  to  his  benefit  by  bringing  him  into  power,  or 
of  accomplishing  his  next  most  ardent  wish,  that  of  dissolv 
ing  the  Union,  and  having  a  Northern  and  Southern  repub 
lic,  at  the  head  of  the  latter  of  which  he  never  dreamed  that 
any  other  could  be  placed  than  himself. 

"  Well,  we  will  proceed  now  to  the  consideration  of  the 
question  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  which  is  next  in  order. 
Texas  was  annexed  to  the  Union,  and  it  became  necessary 
to  adopt  .this  now  unconstitutional  Missouri  Compromise 
line  and  apply  that  to  Texas  also.  Mark  you  now  that,  by 
the  Ordinance  of  1787,  all  of  the  Northwestern  Territory 
belonging  to  the  United  States  was  provided  for ;  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise  line  was  applied  to  the  territory  acquired 
by  the  Louisiana  Treaty,  and  thus  that  was  settled.  There 
could  then  be  no  farther  controversy  upon  this  question, 
but  when  we  acquired  Texas,  it  became  necessary  to  make 
some  farther  provision  in  regard  to  that  territory. 

"  A  Southern  gentleman,  Mr:  Brown,  of  Tennessee,  pro 
posed  the  extension  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  to  the 
State  of  Texas.  Judge  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  then  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  now  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Territories  in  the  Senate,  submitted  a  modi 
fication  in  the  following  words  by  way  of  amendment: 

"  'And  in  such  states  as  shall  be  formed  out  of  said  terri- 


136  THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

tory  north  of  said  Missouri  Compromise  line,  slavery  or  in 
voluntary  servitude,  except  for  crime,  shall  be  prohibited' 
— thus  applying  the  Wilmot  Proviso  to  the  states  as  well 
as  to  the  territories  north  of  36°  30'. 

"This  is  the  'Little  Giant,'  the  great  Southern  champion. 
Mr.  Brown  accepted  the  modification,  and  it  was  agreed  to 
by  a  vote  of  ayes  120,  noes  98  —  every  Southern  Democrat 
in  the  House,  without  exception,  voting  for  it ;  so  that,  by 
the  resolution  annexing  Texas  and  adopting  the  Missouri 
Compromise  line  as  applicable  to  it,  the  question  was  settled 
permanently  in  reference  to  the  territory  acquired  from 
Texas. 

"  I  am  tracing  this  matter  on  step  by  step,  to  show  you  the 
wisdom  of  those  who  went  before  us  in  providing  against 
all  this  agitation,  by  a  settlement  of  this  question  between 
North  and  South  as  we  acquired  additional  territory. 

"  Shortly  after  this,  however,  we  became  possessed  of  a 
very  large  territory  by  purchase  and  by  the  war  with  Mex 
ico,  including  California  and  the  Territories  of  Utah  and 
New  Mexico.  During  the  administration  of  Mr.  Polk,  a 
Southern  Democratic  President,  a  bill  organizing  a  terri 
torial  government  for  Oregon  was  presented  to  him  for  his 
signature  after  having  passed  the  two  branches  of  Congress. 
That  bill  contained,  not  the  Missouri  Compromise  clause, 
but  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  It  was  passed  by  a  Democratic 
majority  in  the  House  and  in  the  Senate,  and  was  then  sent 
to  Mr.  Polk  for  his  signature,  while  Mr.  James  Buchanan 
wras  a  member  of  his  Cabinet  and  Secretary  of  State,  and  he 
(Mr.  Polk)  of  course  put  his  signature  to  the  Oregon  Bill, 
with  the  Wilmot  Proviso  attached  to  it.  And  what  was 
the  ground  of  excuse  made  by  the  Southern  Democrats  for 
their  votes  upon  this  bill,  and  what  did  they  say  in  justifica 
tion  of  their  Democratic  President,  Mr.  Polk,  who  signed  it  ? 


THE    GREAT   KEBELLIOX.  137 

Why,  that  it  was  all  right,  because  it  was  in  conformity  with 
the  principles  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  although  that 
Compromise  did  not  extend  to  this  territory ;  and  now  they 
have  the  bold  effrontery  to  pretend  that  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  was  itself  an  unconstitutional  measure,  thus  justify 
ing  what  they  maintain  was  an  unconstitutional  act  by  the 
exercise  of  another  equally  unconstitutional.  Have  they  lost 
all  sense  of  reason,  or  have  they  lost  all  conscience  and  re 
gard  for  consistency,  truth,  and  honor  ? 

"At  a  subsequent  period,  to  wit,  in  1848,  having  settled 
the  Oregon  difficulty  in  the  manner  I  have  shown,  it  became 
necessary  to  do  something  in  reference  to  the  Territory  of 
California,  and  the  following  proposition  was  before  the 
Senate : 

"  '  That  the  line  of  3G°  30'  of  north  latitude,  known  as  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line,  as  defined  by  the  eighth  section 
of  an  act  entitled  an  act,  etc.,  approved  March  G,  1820,  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  extend  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean ;  and  the  said  eighth  section,  together  with  the  com 
promise  effected,  is  hereby  revived,  and  declared  to  be  in  full 
force  and  binding  for  the  organization  of  the  territories  of 
the  United  States,  in  the  same  sense,  and  with  the  same  un 
derstanding  with  which  it  was  originally  adopted.'  And 
the  vote  in  the  affirmative  stood — Atchison,  Badger,  Bell, 
Berrien,  Benton,  Borland,  Bright,  Butler,  Calhoun,  Cameron, 
Davis,  of  Mississippi,  Dickinson,  Douglas,  Downs,  Fitzger 
ald,  Foote,  Hannegan,  Houston,  Hunter,  Johnson,  of  Mary 
land,  Johnson,  of  Georgia,  Johnson,  of  Louisiana,  King,  Lew 
is,  Mangum,  Mason,  Metcalf,  Pearce,  Sebastian,  Sherman, 
Sturgeon,  Turney,  and  Underwood — every  Southern  sena 
tor  voting  for  it.  And  now  it  is  insisted  by  some  of  these 
same  gentlemen  that  the  Missouri  Compromise,  thus  voted 
for  and  passed  by  the  Senate,  was  an  unconstitutional  meas- 


138  THE   GEEAT   REBELLION. 

lire  forced  upon  them  originally  by  the  North.  I  have  only 
to  ask,  in  what  position  do  they  place  themselves  by  now 
asserting  that  they  voted  for  a  measure  in  violation  of  that 
Constitution  which  they  had  sworn  not  to  violate  ? 

THE   COMPROMISE    OF    1850. 

"Well,  gentlemen,  we  next  come  to  the  Compromise 
Measures  of  1850.  There  was  still  territory  acquired  from 
Mexico  which  had  not  been  provided  for.  Serious  difficulty 
and  danger  was  apprehended  in  regard  to  it,  unless  some 
amicable  adjustment  or  compromise  could  be  effected  on 
the  subject  of  slavery  in  that  territory. 

"And  I  know  the  fact  personally,  from  correspondence 
held  with  him  at  the  time,  that  no  other  consideration  than 
that  of  the  loftiest  patriotism  that  ever  animated  the  bosom 
of  man  induced  the  venerable  Sage  of  Ashland  to  quit  his 
home  of  retirement  and  peace,  to  come  back  into  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  compro 
mise  this  question  between  the  North  and  South.  No  man 
— I  say  it  in  no  vainglorious  spirit — -but  no  man  out  of  the 
halls  of  Congress  had  more,  I  believe,  to  do  with  that  Mis 
souri  Compromise  than  the  humble  individual  who  is  now 
addressing  you. 

"I  was  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans  in  February,  1849,  and 
I  received  a  telegraphic  dispatch  from  Mr.  Clay  requesting 
me  most  strenuously  to  come  forthwith  to  Washington,  as 
he  required  my  services.  He  did  not  state  what  those  serv 
ices  were.  I  dispatched  what  little  business  I  had  remain 
ing  in  New  Orleans  and  hurried  on  to  my  home,  where  I  re 
mained  only  twenty-four  hours  to  see  my  family  before  I 
went  on  to  Washington ;  and  when  I  got  there,  he  (Mr. 
Clay)  disclosed  to  me  the  purposes  and  object  he  had  in 
view,  stating  that  he  wanted  me  to  lend  him  whatever  influ- 


THE    GEEAT  KEBELLIOX.  139 

cnce  I  could  exert  to  aid  him  in  the  accomplishment  of  his 
work. 

"  You  may  remember  that  Foote,  of  Mississippi,  had  pro 
posed  that  a  committee  be  appointed,  and  Mr.  Clay  strong 
ly  resisted  it.  Mr.  Foote  (then  of  Mississippi,  now  of  Cali 
fornia)  called  upon  me  one  Sunday  morning  and  invited  me 
to  walk.  As  we  went  along,  he  told  me  that  his  great  ob 
ject  in  getting  that  Committee  of  Thirteen  appointed  to  take 
this  subject  under  consideration  was,  that  their  report  would 
be  more  likely  to  be  adopted,  and  the  question  more  easily 
settled  through  them  than  in  any  other  form.  I  concurred 
with  him  in  that  opinion.  He  asked  me  to  see  Mr.  Clay 
upon  the  subject.  I  repaired  immediately  to  his  room  and 
broached  the  subject  to  him.  He  was  in  the  habit  frequent 
ly  of  taking  a  great  many  liberties  with  me  and  saying  what 
he  pleased.  He  did  not  receive  my  remarks  very  kindly. 
I  was  very  much  in  the  habit  of  taking  many  liberties  with 
him,  and  saying  to  him  very  much  what  I  pleased,  just  as  he 
was  accustomed  to  do  in  reference  to  me,  and  so  we  had 
quite  a  rough  roll -and -tumble  dispute  for  a  considerable 
time  upon  this  subject.  Mr.  Clay  was  of  opinion  that  if 
they  got  the  committee,  they  would  put  on  a  majority  of 
Democrats,  and  his  proposition  would  be  smothered  by  the 
committee.  I  reasoned  with  him  to  show  that,  if  that  was 
the  case,  it  would  be  as  well  to  defeat  it  there  as  in  the  open 
Senate,  and  that  it  would  be  more  likely  to  carry  in  a  com 
mittee  fairly  organized,  and  with  the  best  men  of  the  Senate 
upon  it,  than  if  left  to  an  open  Senate,  where  the  Democratic 
majority  would  be  so  much  larger  than  in  committee ;  that 
I  felt  entirely  assured  that  Foote  was  actuated  by  honest 
and  patriotic  motives  in  his  suggestion ;  and  that  if  a  favor 
able  report  could  be  had  from  the  committee,  it  would  in 
sure  or  greatly  increase  the  chances  of  its  passage  through 


140  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

the  Senate.  I  did  not  leave  him  until  he  had  yielded  his 
assent  to  the  appointment  of  the  committee,  which  led  to 
the  final  settlement  of  the  question.  The  Compromise  Meas 
ures  were  passed.  They  brought  the  healing  intelligence 
upon  their  wings  which  restored  peace,  and  harmony,  and 
brotherly  feeling  between  the  different  sections  of  the  Union. 
The  illustrious  patriot  had  accomplished  his  work.  He  fold 
ed  his  arms  and  surrendered  his  spirit  to  his  God,  under  the 
firm  persuasion  that  he  had  accomplished  the  last  good  that 
Providence  designed  him  to  perform  upon  earth — that  of 
giving  tranquillity  to  the  nation. 

"From  what  quarter  did  these  Compromise  Measures 
meet  with  opposition  ?  From  those  who  upheld  the  '  twen 
ty-first  rule'  to  get  up  agitation  in  the  South — the  extremes 
of  the  South  and  the  North — the  Abolitionists  of  the  North, 
the  Seceders  of  South  Carolina,  with  those  of  the  same  school 
in  Virginia  and  elsewhere,  united  in  opposition  to  the  Com 
promise  ;  and  you  will  not  have  forgotten  that,  so  strong 
was  their  hostility  to  those  measures,  because  they  quieted 
agitation,  they  called  a  convention  at  Nashville,  as  was  plain 
ly  proved  by  Foote  and  others  at  the  time,  to  bring  about  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union  by  resistance  to  the  Compromise. 
Harmony  was  not  what  they  wanted.  Harmony  did  not 
suit  their  purposes  or  their  interests.  Agitation,  agitation, 
agitation  and  excitement,  apprehension  and  alarm  among 
the  Southern  people  on  the  subject  of  slavery  was  what  they 
wanted,  because  by  it  they  had  obtained  power,  and  by  it, 
and  by  it  alone,  they  would  have  been  enabled  to  retain  it. 

"  Go  with  me  a  little  farther,  and  see  how  the  Calhoun 
wing  of  the  Democracy,  which  has  now  the  absolute  con 
trol  over  the  other  wing  in  this  state,  continued  to  vote  with 
the  Free-soilers  for  farther  agitation  and  excitement.  In 
the  House  of  Representatives,  Colonel  Jackson,  of  Georgia, 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  141 

offered  the  following  resolution  early  in  the  session  that  fol 
lowed  the  adoption  of  the  Compromise.  ' 

"  '  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  the  binding  efficacy  of  the 
compromises  of  the  Constitution,  and  believe  it  to  be  the  in 
tention  of  the  people  generally,  as  we  hereby  declare  it  to 
be  ours  individually,  to  abide  such  compromises,  and  to  sus 
tain  the  laws  necessary  to  carry  them  out,  the  provision  for 
the  delivery  of  fugitive  slaves  and  the  act  of  the  last  Con 
gress  for  that  purpose  included,  and  that  we  deprecate  all 
farther  agitation  of  questions  growing  out  of  that  provision 
of  all  the  questions  embraced  in  the  acts  of  the  last  Congress 
known  as  the  Compromise,  and  of  questions  generally  con 
nected  with  the  institution  of  slavery,  as  unnecessary,  use 
less,  and  dangerous.' 

"Now,  scan  this  resolution  closely,  examine  it  with  all 
possible  care,  and  tell  me  what  there  is  in  it  to  which  a 
Southern  man  desiring  peace  between  the  two  sections  of 
the  country  and  a  settlement  of  the  slavery  question  could 
make  an  objection  ?  Yet  there  were  sixty-four  votes  against 
it,  and  the  Baltimore  Sun  of  that  day,  from  which  I  now 
read,  says :  '  WE  NOTICE  THAT  THE  ULTRA  SOUTHERN  MEM 
BERS  FROM  SOUTH  CAROLINA  VOTED  WITH  THE  FREE-SOIL- 
ERS.'  This  is  Democratic  authority !  The  Baltimore  Sun 
continues  :  '  Mr.  Hillyer  offered  the  following  addition  to 
the  above  resolution,  being  the  same  as  that  which  was  of 
fered  by  Colonel  Polk,  and  voted  down  by  the  Democratic 
caucuses  of  the  House  at  the  beginning  of  the  session. 

"  '  "Itesolved,  That  the  series  of  acts  passed  during  the 
first  session  of  the  Thirty-first  Congress,  known  as  the  Com 
promise,  are  regarded  as  a  final  adjustment,  and  a  perma 
nent  settlement  of  the  questions  therein  embraced,  and 
should  be  regarded,  maintained,  and  executed  as  such."  ' 

"  Take  a  calm  and  clear  view  of  this  resolution,  and  tell 


142  THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

me  why  a  party  desirous  of  settling  the  slavery  question 
and  arresting  agitation  should  oppose  it.  Yet  it  was  op 
posed,  and  by  the  same  combination  of  Free-soilers  and 
Southern  Calhoun  nullifiers  —  sixty-five  voting  in  the  neg 
ative.  And  upon  this  resolution  the  ayes  and  noes  are 
given,  and  I  will  read  the  names  of  those  who  voted  in  the 
negative ;  they  are  Messrs.  Aiken,  Allison,  Ashe,  Averett, 
Baily,  of  Georgia  ;  Barrere,  Bartlett,  Bocock,  Bragg,  Bren- 
ton,  Buel,  Cable,  Campbell,  of  Ohio ;  Campbell,  of  Illinois ; 
Caskie,  Chapman,  Clingman,  Cougar,  Daniel,  Doty,  Durkee, 
Eastman,  Edgerton,  Floyd,  Fowler,  Gaylord,  Goodenow, 
Goodrich,  Grow,  Harper,  Holliday,  Horsford,  T.  M.  Howe, 
Ives,  Jenkins,  Johnson,  of  Ohio ;  Jones,  of  New  York ; 
King,  of  New  York;  Mann,  McQueen,  Meachem,  Meade, 
Millson,  Minor,  Moloney,  Newton,  Orr,  Penniman,  Perkins, 
Powell,  Rantoul,  Sackett,  Schoolcraft,  Scudder,  Smart,  Stan- 
ton,  of  Ohio ;  Stratton,  Sweetzer,  Thompson,  of  Massachu 
setts  ;  Tuck,  Venable,  Walbridge,  "Wallace,  Washburn, 
"Wells,  and  Woodward. 

"These  were  the  Southern  men  (all  Democrats)  who 
voted  with  the  Free-soilers  North  against  these  resolutions, 
deprecating  agitation,  and  pledging  themselves  to  those 
measures  that  had  put  down  agitation. 

C(  But  I  am  far  from  being  done  with  these  gentlemen 
yet.  The  contest  of  1852  had  come  on,  and  those  measures 
had,  in  the  mean  time,  become  so  popular  with  the  people 
that  the  Democratic  party  found  it  necessary  to  take  the 
lead  of  us,  the  conservative  party  of  the  country,  who  had 
given  them  from  the  first  an  honest,  earnest,  and  cordial 
support.  But  they  shot  far  ahead  of  us  in  '52,  seized  upon 
these  measures  as  their  own  property,  claimed  all  the  credit 
for  their  own  party,  and  made  them  the  prominent  question 
in  the  Presidential  election  of  that  year. 


THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION.  143 

"  Both  parties  met  in  convention,  and  each  pledged  itself 
to  resist  all  attempts,  no  matter  when,  where,  or  how,  or  by 
whom  made,  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  to  reopen  or  agitate 
the  slavery  question,  and  farther  pledged  themselves  to 
abide  by  the  Compromise  as  a  final  settlement  of  the  whole 
question ;  and  you  will  all  recollect  that  the  chief  issue,  and 
almost  the  only  one  raised  in  that  contest,  was  whether 
Scott  or  Pierce  was  most  unqualifiedly  pledged,  and  which 
was  most  to  be  relied  on,  to  look  upon  the  settlement  that 
had  been  made  as  a  finality  of  the  whole  question  of 
slavery. 

"The  pretension  set  up  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Pierce,  and 
insisted  on  with  so  much  apparent  earnestness  of  superior 
fidelity  to  the  South,  and  the  bold  declarations  of  his  sinceri 
ty  and  devotion  to  the  Compromise  of  1850,  seduced  a  por 
tion  of  the  sappy-headed  Whigs  from  the  support  of  Scott, 
and  they  voted  for  Pierce.  The  country,  most  unfortunate 
ly  for  itself  and  for  all  parties,  unwisely  concluded  that 
Pierce  was  the  most  reliable  man,  and  he  was  elected ;  and 
so  vehement  were  the  assurances  of  his  friends,  and  so  con 
stant  their  promises  and  pledges  of  his  good  faith  and  hon 
or,  that  we  all  felt  disposed  to  give  him  a  fair  trial,  and 
judge  the  tree  by  its  fruits.  Of  one  thing  none  could  well 
entertain  a  doubt,  and  that  was  that  public  opinion  had 
been  so  unmistakably  expressed  in  favor  of  adhering  faith 
fully  to  all  the  compromises  on  the  question  of  slavery  that 
no  man  would  have  the  hardihood  to  advance  a  step  toward 
the  farther  discussion  of  that  question.  The  4th  of  March 
arrived,  and  with  it  the  inaugural  address,  full  of  promises, 
and  pledges,  and  declarations  that  made  assurance  doubly 
sure,  and  all  were  satisfied  and  happy. 

"Mr.  Pierce  was  inaugurated  and  installed  into  office, 
and  then  came  the  selection  of  his  Cabinet ;  but  we  find 


144  THE    GEEAT   EEBELLION. 

that  instead  of  calling  to  his  aid  as  his  constitutional  advis 
ers  those  identified  with  the  main  principles  upon  which  he 
was  elected,  he  confided  chiefly  in  those  men  who  were 
most  bitter  in  their  opposition  to  the  measures  of  1850: 
Davis,  M'Clelland,  and  Gushing.  Now  I  wish  you  to  ob 
serve  this  point  that,  when  Mr.  Pierce  came  into  power,  all 
the  territory  that  originally  belonged  to,  and  that  has  since 
been  acquired  by  the  United  States  government  up  to  that 
time,  had  been  provided  for,  and  all  was  sunshine,  peace,  and 
concord.  Every  question  of  sectional  difficulty  was  harmo 
niously  settled,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  world  to  quar 
rel  about.  The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  the  only  issue, 
and  the  people  of  the  North  were  well  reconciled,  at  least 
the  great  majority  of  them,  to  the  execution  of  that  law. 
In  some  instances  it  was  opposed  by  a  few,  for  the  purpose 
rather  of  creating  disturbance  than  of  offering  any  organ 
ized  opposition  to  its  execution ;  so  that  there  would  not 
have  been,  in  a  short  time,  even  that  bone  of  contention  be 
tween  the  Nor4h  and  the  South.  Well,  that  was  the  con 
dition  of  the  country  when  Mr.  Fillmorc  left  the  Presiden 
tial  chair — that  was  the  condition  of  the  country  when  Mr. 
Pierce  took  possession  of  it.  What — what,  let  me  ask  you, 
is  its  present  condition?  I  charge  upon  the  Democratic 
party  that,  by  the  disturbance  of  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
they  have  not  only  sacrificed  the  integrity  and  honor  of  the 
South,  pledged  in  good  faith  to  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
but  which  pledge  they  violated  after  they  had  received 
from  it  all  the  benefits  they  could  derive.  I  charge  upon 
the  Democratic  party  that  they  have  violated  every  pledge 
that  was  made  in  the  Convention  that  nominated  Mr. 
Pierce  to  resist  any  and  all  efforts,  no  matter  when,  where, 
or  by  whom  made,  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  to  reopen  the 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question.  I  charge  upon  them  that 


THE   GKEAT   REBELLION.  145 

they  have  built  up  the  Black  Republican  party  from  the 
ground,  which  had  no  existence  prior  to  the  disturbance  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise.  I  charge  upon  them  that  they 
have  brought  civil  war  upon  the  country.  I  charge  upon 
them  that  they  have  sacrificed  every  acre,  every  foot,  and 
every  inch  of  territory  now  belonging  to  the  United  States, 
or  that  may  hereafter  be  acquired,  to  the  cause  of  the  Free- 
soilers.  I  charge  upon  them  that,  if  they  have  not  involved 
us  in  a  foreign  war,  it  is  only  because  there  has  been  more 
discretion,  forbearance,  and  wisdom  in  British  statesmen 
than  there  has  been  exhibited  by  the  Cabinet  in  Washing 
ton.  And  I  charge  them  with  exciting  a  revolutionary  and 
rebellious  spirit  throughout  the  limits  of  this  broad  land,  and 
that,  having  taken  possession  of  the  government  when  all 
was  peace,  they  have  brought  us  to  that  point  when  threats 
of  dissolution  are  heard  in  every  quarter  of  the  land.  And 
now  they  come,  as  I  said  before,  with  that  old  deceptive 
siren  song  of 'Help  us  to  save  the  Union.  The  Union  can 
not  be  saved  except  by  the  Democratic  party.' 

"They  have  had  a  convention  at  Cincinnati,  and  they  have 
fully  indorsed  the  policy  and  measures  of  Mr.  Pierce's  ad 
ministration,  that  has  produced  civil  war,  that  has  sacrificed 
all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  to  the  cause  of  the 
Free-soilers,  and  that  has  brought  about  a  condition  of 
things  in  which  disunion  is  openly  threatened,  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  in  every  congressional  district  throughout 
the  United  States.  They  have  indorsed  all  these  measures, 
and  they  have  put  their  candidate,  Mr.  Buchanan,  upon  the 
platform,  and  he  tells  you  that  he  stands  not  only  upon  that 
platform,  but  that  he  is  no  longer  James  Buchanan,  but 
merely  the  candidate  of  the  Democratic  party. 

"  Well,  now,  I  want  to  know  if  the  Democratic  party  can 
accomplish  all  this  from  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  to  the  4th 

G 


146  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

of  March,  1856,  how  much  longer  it  would  take  them  to 
bring  about  an  actual  dissolution  of  the  Union  ?  They  have 
accomplished  more  than  three  fourths  of  their  task  already. 
Let  this  policy  be  pursued  but  little  longer  and  the  Union  is 
gone ;  and  if  any  thing  can  dissolve  the  bond  of  this  con 
federacy,  it  will  be  another  administration  of  the  Democrat 
ic  party. 

"  You  have  been  told  by  Mr.  Seward  that  the  day  for  com 
promises  has  passed  away.  Mr.  Seward  is  right ;  blame  him 
who  may,  Seward  is  right.  The  day  for  compromises  has 
passed  away,  and  has  passed  by  the  fiat  of  Southern  Democ 
racy.  They  have  told  you  they  would  have  no  more  com 
promises.  They,  in  the  minority,  without  the  power  to  con 
trol,  have  said  to  the  North,  in  the  majority,  c"VYe  will  have 
no  more  compromises;  compromises  are  unconstitutional; 
either  you  or  we  must  control  this  territory.'  The  North 
said  to  them,  'Gentlemen,  we  have  the  power' — I  mean 
they  said  it  substantially — '  we  have  the  power  to  control, 
but  we  have  no  disposition  to  control.  This  question  has 
been  harmoniously  settled  for  thirty  odd  years — all  these 
disputed  questions  have  been  harmoniously  settled ;  let  them 
remain  settled  according  to  the  compromises  that  have  been 
adopted.'  '  No,'  said  the  South, '  we  will  stand  by  no  such 
compromises ;  compromises  are  unconstitutional ;  you  must 
have  your  way,  or  we  must  have  ours.'  '  Very  well,  said  the 
North, « if  you  are  resolved  upon  that,  and  to  present  to  us 
the  broad  issue  of  whether  you,  the  minority,  or  we,  the  ma 
jority,  shall  control,  no  alternative  is  left.  We  must  fight 
the  question  out.'  I  say  the  Southern  Democracy  has  raised 
the  whirlwind  ;  let  them  direct  the  storm.  I  say  Southern 
Democracy  has  raised  the  whirlwind ;  they  have  raised  up 
that  Black  Republican  party  in  the  North  that  is  likely  to 
-overwhelm  the  country.  Let  them  see  to  it ;  let  them  make 


THE    GKEAT   REBELLION.  147 

such  atonement  to  the  South  as  they  can.  I  say,  as  I  said 
before,  that  if  it  was  not  for  the  boldest  audacity  that  ever 
controlled  a  party  bloated  with  spoils,  they  would  bow  their 
heads  in  shame  and  ask  forgiveness  of  the  country.  Instead 
of  asking  us  to  support  their  candidate,  they  would  be  in 
viting  us  to  release  them  from  the  burdens  of  government, 
which  they  are  incompetent  to  conduct. 

"  Suppose  Texas  were  now  to  be  annexed  as  a  slave  state 
or  territory,  with  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  repealed, 
does  any  man  in  his  proper  senses  believe  that  the  North 
would  consent  to  it  ?  If  so,  let  me  tell  him  that  he  knows 
little  of  the  feeling  pervading  all  ranks  and  all  parties  among 
the  people  throughout  that  entire  region  of  the  country. 
You  might  find  a  politician  here  and  there  who  would  be 
tray  the  confidence  of  his  constituents  for  the  hope  of  re 
ward,  but  among  the  masses  of  the  people  you  would  find 
none  that  would  listen  to  it  for  a  moment,  and  for  this  the 
Democracy  are  responsible,  to  the  South  especially  and  to 
the  country  generally. 

THE   KANSAS-NEBRASKA   BILL. 

"  But  that  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  is  now  objected  to,  upon 
the  ground  that  it  contains  the  squatter  sovereignty  princi 
ple,  and  you  find  the  public  press  throughout  the  South 
ready  to  resort  to  arms  to  bring  about  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union  rather  than  submit  to  squatter  sovereignty.  I  tell 
them  it  is  too  late  to  play  that  game.  Who  adopted  the 
feature  of  squatter  sovereignty?  The  South.  Who  sus 
tained  it  ?  The  Whig  and  Democratic  press  of  the  South. 
Who  passed  it  into  a  law  ?  I  say  that  they,  the  Southern 
representatives  of  the  people,  have  established  squatter  sov 
ereignty,  and  did  it  knowingly ;  they  did  it  willfully  and  de 
liberately,  if  they  knew  the  meaning  of  English  terms.  They 


148  THE    CHEAT   REBELLION. 

advocated  the  passage  of  the  bill  expressly  upon  the  ground 
of c  non-intervention.'  Was  not  that  so  ?  And  what  is  that 
but  squatter  sovereignty — that  there  should  be  no  interfer 
ence  on  the  part  of  the  government  or  of  Congress  with  the 
alien  squatters  to  regulate  their  own  domestic  affairs  ?  And 
now  they  pretend  that  they  do  not  know  what  that  means. 
They  ought  to  know ;  if  not,  they  ought  to  go  to  school 
again  and  learn.  Why,  did  they  not  know  that  upon  the 
passage  of  this  bill  General  Cass  congratulated  the  country 
upon  the  recognition  of  his  favorite  but,  as  he  said,  much- 
abused  doctrine  of  1848,  called  squatter  sovereignty,  which 
was  subsequently  denied  by  the  Democracy,  and  for  which 
denial  he  complimented  them  by  saying  that  none  but  fools 
could  put  such  an  interpretation  upon  his  letter  as  they 
sought  to  represent  ? 

"When  Judge  Douglas,  who  was  the  ostensible  author 
of  the  bill,  went  to  New  York  during  its  pendency,  and  was 
serenaded  at  the  St.  Nicholas,  they  knew  that  he  made  a 
speech  which  was  republished  in  the  Southern  country,  and 
in  which  he  took  the  ground  that  the  leading  feature  of  the 
bill  and  that  which  laid  at  the  foundation  of  it  was  the  right 
of  the  people  of  Kansas,  aliens  and  all,  to  regulate  their  own 
affairs,  and  that  he  asked  the  pertinent  question,  'If  you,  the 
people  of  New  York,  are  competent  to  regulate  your  own 
affairs,  would  you  be  less  competent  if  you  were  inhabitants 
of  Kansas  ?  We  of  Illinois  have  a  right  to  regulate  our 
affairs,  and  if  we  went  to  Kansas  we  would  expect  to  exer 
cise  the  same  powers  as  residents  of  the  territory.'  But 
they  have  found  out  that  this  principle  did  not  work  so 
well,  and  now  they  take  the  back  track.  And  for  what  ob 
ject  have  they  done  so  ?  They  have  met  in  convention  at 
Cincinnati,  and  we  find  this  one  of  the  leading  principles  of 
the  platform  there  adopted.  They,  in  fact,  either  shortened 


THE    GKEAT   REBELLION.  149 

Mr.  Buchanan  or  stretched  him  out  so  as  to  suit  the  plat 
form  exactly,  and  he  indorses  that  feature  of  it  especially ; 
and  immediately  after  he  indorses  it,  the  Senate  of  the  Unit 
ed  States,  alarmed  at  the  consequences  likely  to  result  from 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  admitted  it  was  all 
a  humbug  and  cheat  in  the  commencement,  condemned  the 
laws  of  Kansas  by  a  vote  of  forty  to  three  (on  Geyer's 
amendment),  and  passed  a  new  law  providing  for  a  new 
government  for  Kansas. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  am  repeating  historical  truths.  I  am  in 
dulging  in  no  idle  declamation  or  vain  speculation.  I  am 
telling  you  historical  facts. 

"  But  they  tell  you,  also,  that  the  Compromise  Measures 
of  1850  repealed  the  Compromise  Measures  of  1820.  In  the 
first  place,  I  would  like  to  ask  who  said  so  then  ?  Next,  I 
would  like  to  ask  who  thought  so?  Nobody!  —  nobody 
thought  so,  and  nobody  said  so ;  and  the  man  who  would 
have  said  so  would  have  been  regarded  as  a  fit  subject  for  a 
lunatic  asylum.  For  how  could  any  thing  be  more  stupid 
than  to  have  settled  one  question  by  unsettling  another  ques 
tion?  If  by  the  terms  of  the  act  of  1850  you  repeal  the  act 
of  1820,  you  are  settling  the  difficulty  in  regard  to  the  ter 
ritory  acquired  from  Mexico,  and  unsettling  the  difficulty  in 
regard  to  the  territory  acquired  from  France. 

"  On  this  point  only  hear  what  Mr.  Douglas,  as  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Territories,  reported  from  that  com 
mittee  so  late  as  January  4,  1854.  That  report  says: 
'Your  committee  do  not  feel  themselves  called  upon  to 
enter  into  the  discussion  of  these  controverted  questions' 
(whether  the  Constitution  secures  the  right  to  Southern 
citizens  of  carrying  their  slaves  into  the  territories).  'They 
involve  the  same  issues  which  produced  the  agitation,  the 
sectional  strife,  and  the  fearful  struggle  of  1850.  As  Con- 


150  THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

gress  deemed  it  wise  and  prudent  to  refrain  from  deciding 
the  matters  in  controversy  then,  either  by  affirming  or  re 
pealing  the  Mexican  laws,  or  by  an  act  declaratory  of  the 
true  intent  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  extent  of  the  pro 
tection  afforded  by  it  to  slave  property  in  the  territories,  so 
your  committee  are  not  prepared  now  to  recommend  a  de 
parture  from  the  course  pursued  on  that  memorable  occa 
sion,  either  ly  affirming  or  repealing  the  eighth  section  of 
the  Missouri  act>  or  by  an  act  declaratory  of  the  meaning  of 
the  Constitution  in  respect  to  the  legal  points  in  dispute.' 

"Thus  it  appears  that,  in  January,  1854,  the  Territorial 
Committee  of  the  Senate  had  no  idea  that  the  Missouri 
Compromise  was  disturbed  by  the  Compromise  of  1850,  but 
expressly  disclaimed  it ;  yet  now  it  is  hypocritically  and 
falsely  pretended  that  it  did. 

"  Now,  where  are  those  men  who  voted  for  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise  ?  Where  is  Jones,  of  Tennessee, 
Benjamin,  Dixon,  Toombs  and  Geyer,  Pratt,  and  Pearce,  of 
Maryland?  Just  precisely  where  they  ought  to  be  when 
they  placed  themselves  under  the  lead  of  the  Little  Giant, 
Douglas,  and  the  great  dwarf,  Pierce.  Seven  out  of  ten  of 
the  Whig  senators  who  voted  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  have  gone  where  they  ought  to  have  gone  long 
since — they  have  gone  home  to  roost,  not  in  the  bosom  of 
Abraham,  but  in  the  bosom  of  Buchanan.  And  lo !  they 
make  it  a  pretext — I  am  speaking  now  of  some  of  my  per 
sonal  friends,  but  that  has  nothing  to  do  with  my  public  du 
ties — they  have  made  it  a  pretext  for  voting  for  Buchanan 
that  they  did  not  think  Fillmore  would  be  elected.  Well, 
it  is  quite  certain  he  can  not  be  if  his  friends  do  not  vote  for 
him.  But  I  apprehend  it  will  be  with  them  as  it  was  with 
those  who  left  us  in  1852  because  Fillmore  was  not  nomin 
ated.  They  now  go  for  Buchanan  because  Fillmore  is  nom 
inated. 


THE   GREAT   EEBELLIOX.  151 

"  But  they  say  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  uncon 
stitutional.  Well,  gentlemen,  I  only  ask  you  to  take  the 
subject  into  consideration  for  yourselves;  just  weigh  the 
authority  that  I  have  adduced  upon  this  subject :  one  hund 
red  and  thirty-four  to  forty-two  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives;  twenty  out  of  twenty-two  senators  in  1820;  Monroe, 
the  Southern  President,  and  all  his  Cabinet,  with  John  C. 
Calhoun  among  them ;  the  whole  body  of  Democrats  in  the 
Senate  of  1845;  Polk  and  his  party  in  1847,  upon  the  ad 
mission  of  Oregon ;  and  then  take  the  pigmies,  and  the  but 
terflies,  and  the  grasshoppers  of  the  present  day,  who  are 
croaking  in  every  corner  of  the  street  about  the  unconstitu 
tionally  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  tell  me,  then, 
where  is  the  authority  for  its  unconstitutionality  ? 

"  But,  admit  it  to  have  been  unconstitutional,  what  was 
the  object  in  disturbing  it?  What  practical  injury  did  it 
inflict  ?  You  are  obliged  to  have  free  and  slave  states,  and 
dividing-lines  between  them.  Is  it  not  as  well  to  have  a 
straight  line  as  a  crooked  one?  and  was  it  not  as  well  to 
have  let  alone  the  straight  line  established  by  our  forefa 
thers,  which  had  become  sanctified  by  time,  and  was  held 
for  years  almost  as  sacred  as  the  Constitution  under  which 
we  live  ?  It  was  as  well  for  us,  but  it  was  not  as  well  for 
the  Democratic  party.  And  why  ?  Because  they  were 
without  food  to  live  upon ;  they  were  without  the  elements 
of  combination  that  gave  them  strength;  they  had  nothing 
upon  which  they  could  unite  their  party.  Pierce,  by  his 
Cabinet  appointments,  his  appointments  in  New  York,  by 
his  turning  out  Bronson  because  he  would  not  turn  out  the 
Hard-shells  and  put  in  the  Soft-shells,  had  broken  down  the 
Democratic  party.  It  was  a  rickety-rackety  concern,  a  sort 
of  broken-down  monster  that  could  not  stand  the  test  of 
public  scrutiny  and  observation.  And  it  was  necessary  to 


152  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise  to  get  up  agitation  upon 
the  question  of  slavery,  in  order  to  delude  weak-minded, 
sappy-headed,  tender-footed,  faint-hearted  Whigs  and  Amer 
icans  to  vote  for  the  Democratic  nominee  upon  the  plea  that 
the  South  was  in  danger,  that  slavery  was  in  danger. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  can  truly  say  that  there  is  nothing  that  I 
predicted  in  1854,  as  the  result  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  that  has  not  happened.  I  said  at  the  time, 
'You  gentlemen  of  the  South  regard  Mr.  Seward  as  your 
greatest  enemy.  I  tell  you  that  every  man  in  the  South 
who  votes  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  is  un 
wittingly  engaged  in  the  service  of  Mr.  Seward.  After  you 
have  repealed  this  Missouri  Compromise  you  will  have  no 
more  national  Democracy  and  no  more  national  "Whiggery ; 
you  will  have  in  the  North  no  more  Hunkers,  Hard-shells, 
or  Adamantines  ;  they  will  all  become  Soft-shells,  Barn 
burners,  and  Free-soilers.'  And  so  they  are ;  all  are  now 
united  under  the  cognomen  of  Republicans,  and  I  added,  he 
that  does  not  see  the  dark  spirit  of  disunion  lurking  around 
this  bill  is  a  short-sighted  man. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  part  with  this  subject  by  saying  that 
those  men  who  take  the  ground  that  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise  was  unconstitutional,  or  that  the  Compromise  Meas 
ures  of  1850  repealed  the  Compromise  Measures  of  1820, 
perpetrate  a  libel  upon  the  living  and  a  calumny  upon  the 
dead.  I  am  here,  gentlemen,  not  only  to  tell  you  wrhat  I 
think,  but  to  tell  you  all  I  think  as  far  as  time  will  allow  me 
to  do  it.  I  am  not  speaking  for  the  South  or  for  the  North. 
I  am  neither  a  Southern  man  nor  a  Northern  man,  but  I  am 
a  National  Union  man. 

"  My  position  on  the  question  of  slavery  is  this,  and,  so  far 
from  wishing  to  conceal  it,  I  desire  it  should  be  known  to 
all.  Muzzles  were  made  for  dogs,  and  not  for  men,  and  no 


THE    GKEAT   KEBELLION.  153 

press  and  no  party  can  put  a  muzzle  on  my  mouth  so  long 
as  I  value  my  freedom.  I  make  bold,  then,  to  proclaim  that 
I  am  no  slavery  propagandist.  I  will  resort  to  all  proper 
remedies  to  protect  and  defend  slavery  where  it  exists,  but 
I  will  neither  assist  in  nor  encourage  any  attempt  to  force  it 
upon  a  reluctant  people  any  where,  and  still  less  will  I  justi 
fy  the  use  of  the  military  power  of  the  country  to  establish 
it  in  any  of  the  territories.  If  it  finds  its  way  there  by  le 
gitimate  means  it  is  all  well,  but  never  by  force  through  any 
instrumentality  of  mine.  I  am  myself  a  slaveholder,  and  all 
the  property  my  children  have  in  the  world  is  slave  proper 
ty,  inherited  from  their  mother;  and  he  who  undertakes  to 
connect  my  name  or  my  opinions  with  Abolitionism  is  ei 
ther  a  knave  or  a  fool,  and  sometimes  both.  And  this  is  the 
only  answer  I  have  to  make  to  them.  I  have  not  connected 
myself  with  any  sectional  party  or  sectional  question,  and, 
so  help  me  God,  I  never  will. 

"  I  lay  claim  here  to  a  sentiment  of  which  I  have  been  to 
some  extent  robbed.  It  has  been  appropriated  by  Mr.  Clay, 
but  he  did  not  need  any  emanation  from  any  mind  to  bolster 
up  his  reputation,  and  therefore  I  will  not  allow  him  to  have 
the  credit  of  it.  But  I  claim  to  be  the  first  man  that  said 
4 1  know  no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no  West.'  I  used  it 
upon  this  stand  in  1844,  at  the  time  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas.  I  know  I  was  rebuked  by  the  Democratic  party  for 
not  knowing  the  South.  Since  that  time  these  have  become 
talismanic  words,  and  now  every  man  who  is  a  candidate 
for  office  is  required  to  say  that  he  knows  '  no  North,  no 
South,  no  East,  no  West ;'  and  the  Democrats  may  say  with 
truth  they  know  no  North,  no  South,  no  East  no  West ;  for 
they  know  nothing  but  the  cohesive  power  of  public  plun 
der,  as  Mr.  Calhoun  said  of  them,  and  that  is  all  they  know, 
and  all  they  care  for." 

G  2 


154  THE    GKEAT   REBELLION. 

THE   MISSOURI   COMPROMISE    AGAIN. 

The  repeal  of  this  time-honored  measure,  which  had  giv 
en  satisfaction  and  peace  for  so  many  years,  and  the  sub 
sequent  efforts  to  force  slavery  into  territory  from  which  by 
that  compromise  it  had  been  forever  excluded,  and  with 
which  they  stood  pledged  in  honor  and  in  laio  never  to  in 
terfere,  and  that,  too,  against  the  known  and  expressed  will 
of  the  people  inhabiting  the  territory,  produced  the  effect 
foreseen  and  mainly  desired,  viz.,  that  of  stirring  up  discord 
and  sectional  animosities  such  as  had  no  previous  parallel; 
and  this  repeal  it  was  that  gave  rise  to  the  Republican  or 
ganization,  which  increased  in  numbers  and  influence  with 
such  rapidity  as  to  render  it  plainly  manifest  that  they  would 
soon  attain  the  ascendency  in  the  Union. 

Do  you  recollect  when  I  found  every  Southern  senator, 
and  almost  every  Southern  press  in  favor  of  the  repeal  of 
that  sacred  compromise,  in  absolute  defiance  of  their  solemn 
pledges  to  the  country,  how  I  threw  myself  alone  into  the 
breach,  and  implored  the  South  to  listen  to  my  appeals  and 
to  strangle  the  proposition  in  its  birth  ?  Do  "you  recollect, 
for  this  self-sacrificing  act,  which  should  have  entitled  me  to 
the  confidence  and  gratitude,  not  only  of  my  own  party,  but 
of  all  peace  and  Union  loving  men,  how  I  was  assailed  by 
the  presses  of  both  parties  as  no  public  man  was  ever  as 
sailed  before  or  since  ?  These  assaults  were  not  confined  to 
my  political  character,  they  extended  to  my  personal  honor 
and  to  the  honesty  of  my  motives.  Enough  was  said  against 
me  to  have  justified  me,  if  any  thing  could,  in  shooting  down 
in  the  public  streets  a  score  of  editors  in  a  day.  There  was 
fighting  matter  enough  in  these  assaults,  God  knows.  But 
who  was  I  to  fight  ?  If  I  had  called  one  to  the  field  I  had 
to  call  all  in  turn,  for  all  were  alike  abusive ;  and  as  I  was 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  155 

not  disposed  to  do  this,  I  resolved  to  pursue  the  even  tenor 
of  my  way,  unawed  and  uninfluenced  by  the  storm  that  was 
raging  around  me  on  every  side ;  and,  though  I  stood  alone, 
yet  I  was  not  to  be  deterred  from  the  faithful  discharge  of 
what  I  conceived  to  be  a  public  duty,  and  I  did  not  shrink 
from  the  discharge  of  that  duty  or  from  the  position  I  had 
taken.  I  chose  to  await  the  result  of  time,  which  I  knew 
would  bring  all  things  right.  If  never  before,  that  time  has 
now  arrived,  and  I  can  with  confidence  appeal  to  honest 
men  of  all  parties  for  the  rectitude  of  my  position  and  the 
truth  of  my  predictions. 

The  occasion  was  one  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify 
me  in  encumbering  this  document  with  a  few  extracts  taken 
from  my  letters  on  that  subject,  as  published  at  the  time. 
They  are  as  follows : 

I  said,  "  It  is  my  misfortune  once  again  to  find  myself  in 
a  situation  that  obliges  me  to  take  part  against  many  of  my 
best  personal  and  political  friends  upon  a  subject  and  under 
circumstances  that,  feeling  and  believing  as  I  do,  it  would 
be  criminal  on  my  part  to  be  silent ;  and,  however  much  I 
may  regret  the  occasion  and  the  necessity,  I  must  appeal  to 
you,  as  national  men  and  the  conductors  of  a  truly  national 
paper  (the  National  Intelligencer),  to  allow  me  the  privi 
lege  of  addressing  a  few  reflections  to  the  people  of  the 
South  through  your  columns  on  a  subject  of  the  gravest 
consequence  to  their  interests — I  mean  the  Nebraska  Bill, 
now  pending  before  the  Senate,  which,  from  all  we  can  now 
see,  is  likely  to  become  a  law  without  a  word  against  it 
from  the  South,  and  by  which  it  is  proposed  to  repeal  or  de 
clare  inoperative  the  Missouri  Compromise  of  thirty-four 
years'  standing,  and  acquiesced  in  by  all  parties  of  the  coun 
try. 

"It  is  true,  I  have  little  now  to  do  with  politics,  and  I  am 


156  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

not  in  a  position  to  give  influence  and  currency  to  what  I 
may  say.  I  have  no  congressional  seat  from  which  I  can 
speak  '  by  authority,'  but  my  interest  in  the  settlement  of 
this  question,  and  my  regard  for  the  welfare  of  the  country 
is  none  the  less  on  that  account. 

"  After  the  most  careful  examination  of  this  portentous 
question,  I  am  satisfied  it  is  the  most  mischievous  and  per 
nicious  measure  that  has  ever  been  introduced  into  the  halls 
of  Congress. 

"With  the  institution  of  slavery  acknowledged  in  a  sound 
er  and  better  condition  than  it  has  ever  before  been ;  with 
the  public  mind  gradually  subsiding  and  acquiescing  in  the 
peaceful  and  healthy  measures  of  1850;  in  the  absence  of 
any  public  necessity  or  demand  from  any  party  or  section 
of  the  country ;  with  an  application  from  no  human  being 
outside  of  the  political  circles  of  Washington  ;  without  the 
question  ever  having  been  presented  for  the  consideration 
of  the  public,  who  are  the  only  proper  parties  to  be  consult 
ed  ;  with  solemn  pledges  from  both  parties  and  both  sec 
tions  to  resist  all  future  efforts  at  agitation,  it  is  proposed  to 
throw  wide  open  the  whole  question  of  slavery,  to  unsettle 
all  that  has  been  done  to  produce  harmony  between  the 
North  and  the  South  for  the  last  thirty  years  by  those  who 
were  quite  as  wise  and  patriotic  as  the  men  of  the  present 
day,  and  to  revive  sectional  animosities  and  feuds  in  the 
most  aggravated  and  embittered  form,  the  end  whereof  no 
man  can  foresee.  Is  it  not,  then,  legitimate  for  any  citizen, 
however  humble,  feeling  an  interest  in  his  country's  welfare, 
to  ask  emphatically,  Why  is  this  to  be  done  ? 

"Is  this  last  and  only  chance  for  reconstructing  the  dis 
ordered  and  scattered  fragments  of  a  dissevered  party  with 
any  intelligent  mind  held  to  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  so 
much  mischief?  Are  the  grasping  and  reckless  aspirations 


THE    GEEAT   REBELLION.  157 

of  ambitious  men,  who  seek  their  own  advancement  by  a 
spirit  of  turbulence  and  discord  throughout  the  land,  a  suffi 
cient  justification  for  the  wholesale  scene  of  riot  and  disor 
der  that  is  to  follow  ? 

"  As  a  Southern  man  I  raise  my  voice  against  it.  I  op 
pose  it,  because  it  involves  a  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of 
the  South,  who  have  for  thirty  odd  years  enjoyed  the  ad 
vantages  obtained  by  them  in  the  formation  and  admission 
of  the  States  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas.  I  oppose  it,  because 
it  necessarily  and  unavoidably  begets  another  angry  section 
al  controversy,  which  there  are  none  left  among  us  strong 
enough  in  the  confidence  of  the  people  to  allay.  I  oppose 
it,  because  it  uproots  and  destroys  the  Compromise  Meas 
ures  of  1850,  to  which  the  North  is  no  more  pledged  than 
the  South  to  the  compromise  now  proposed  to  be  abrogated. 
I  oppose  it,  because  it  would  be  an  act  of  infatuated  madness 
on  the  part  of  the  South  to  accept  it.  I  oppose  it,  because 
it  will  be  impossible  ever  again  to  obtain  as  favorable  terms 
from  the  North,  with  their  seven  millions  majority  of  white 
population,  as  we  obtained  when  that  population  more  near 
ly  approximated  equally.  I  oppose  it,  on  the  ground  that  it 
places  a  barren  privilege  in  the  hands  of  the  South,  for  which 
not  only  no  equivalent  is  offered,  but  by  which  she  must  be 
an  ultimate  and  great  loser.  I  oppose  it,  because  I  do  not 
like  the  source  from  which  it  comes,  nor  the  power  by  which 
it  is  represented.  'Timeo  Danaos  et  dona  ferentes?  It  is 
proposed  by  a  Northern  aspirant  for  the  Presidency,  and  is 
supported  by  a  Northern  administration,  surrounded  by  the 
enemies  of  peace,  harmony,  and  union,  whose  Free-soil  pro 
clivities  have  been  manifested  from  the  first  moment  they 
set  their  feet  upon  the  footstool  of  power.  I  oppose  it,  be 
cause  I  see  Tammany  Hall,  Free-soil,  and  Adamantine  polit 
ical  associations  and  committees  uniting  in  its  support. 


158  THE    GEEAT   EEBELLION. 

"  By  almost  superhuman  efforts,  such  as  went  far  to  cany 
the  most  distinguished  man  of  the  age  to  his  grave,  we  have 
just  extinguished  a  conflagration  that  threatened  the  de 
struction  of  the  noblest  ship  of  state  that  was  ever  launched 
upon  the  waters ;  and  we  have  scarcely  had  time  to  realize 
the  result  and  exchange  congratulations  on  our  safety,  when 
one  more  rash,  and  wild,  and  frantic  than  the  rest  seizes  a 
blazing  torch  in  each  hand,  rushes  madly  into  the  magazine 
of  powder,  flourishes  his  firebrands  aloft,  and,  bidding  defi 
ance  to  all  consequences,  calls  upon  us  to  imitate  his  exam 
ple.  Those  may  follow  him  who  choose ;  but,  for  my  own 
part,  on  all  such  occasions  I  prefer  the  hose  to  the  flambeau. 
I  beg  the  South  to  listen  and  reflect  while  yet  the  opportu 
nity  is  offered. 

"  I  know  that  the  champions  of  slavery  in  the  South  have 
made  every  concession  to  Free-soilism  since  it  came  in  con 
flict  with  Mr.  Pierce  and  the  spoils But 

let  them  not  venture  to  sacrifice  the  sacred  and  solemnly- 
secured  rights  of  the  South  to  promote  the  ambitious  de 
signs  of  selfish  aspirants  to  power,  nor  yet  with  the  vain 
hope  of  building  up  the  fallen  fortunes  of  their  part}r. 

"  As  a  Southern  man,  and  as  a  national  man,  I  should  like 
to  see  this  misshapen  and  ill-begotten  monster  killed.  I 
should  rejoice  to  see  this  Pandora's  box  of  evils  forever 
buried,  and  I  would  resort  to  any  fair  and  legitimate  means 
to  accomplish  so  desirable  an  end ;  and,  as  I  stand  in  the 
presence  of  my  Maker,  I  will  do  what  I  can  to  defeat  it ; 
and  I  say  to  my  friends,  in  the  South  particularly,  and  to  the 
people  of  the  country  every  where,  that  their  cry  should  be, 
'Let  the  demon  of  discord  be  strangled  in  its  birth.  Let 
it  have  no  resting-place  for  its  disturbed  repose.  Let  it  be 
hooted,  scouted,  and  driven  from  door  to  door  like  a  worth 
less,  penniless,  beggarly  thief.  Let  no  man  give  it  a  shelter 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  159 

from  the  pitiless  storm.  Let  it  die  and  rot  upon  the  dung 
hill.  Let  every  lover  of  his  country,  and  of  its  peace,  and 
harmony,  and  good-will,  and  honor,  and  good  faith,  and  du 
rability,  turn  from  it  with  loathsome  and  shuddering  dis 
gust,  as  they  would  avoid  a  pestilence  or  a  plague.  Let 
him  treat  it  as  a  disturber  of  his  country's  peace,  honor, 
welfare,  and  perpetuity.' 

"  The  South  professes  to  despise  Mr.  Seward  as  its  worst 
enemy.  I  tell  the  South  that  every  man  who  helps  to  de 
stroy  the  Compromise  of  1820  is  unwittingly  engaged  in 
the  service  of  Mr.  Seward.  He  is  uniting  the  North  as  one 
man  on  a  sectional  issue,  in  which  their  pride  and  principle 
are  as  much  involved  as  ours,  and  which  will  throw  them  all 
into  the  ranks  of  Mr.  Seward.  You  will  have  no  more  na 
tional  Whiggery,  no  more  national  Democracy,  no  more 
'Hard-shells,'  nor  'Hunkers,'  nor  'Adamantines.'  You  make 
them  all  Free-soilers,  Soft-shells,  and  Barn-burners ;  and  he 
who  can  not  see  the  dark  spirit  of  disunion  lurking  around 
this  bill  is  not  a  far-sighted  man.  In  my  opinion,  no  section 
al  strife  we  have  ever  had  will  begin  to  compare  with  it, 
cither  in  intensity  or  duration." 

These  are  a  few  brief  extracts  from  the  appeals  I  address 
ed  to  the  South  in  1854,  and  it  was  for  the  utterance  of  such 
sentiments  as  those  that  I  was  bespattered  with  the  most 
filthy  abuse  by  all  the  leading  papers  of  both  parties,  Whig 
and  Democratic ;  but,  I  am  proud  to  say,  never  an  inch  did 
I  give  way  to  them. 

The  immediate  result  of  all  this  most  unjustifiable  and 
dishonorable  conduct  in  violating  a  compact  from  which  the 
South  had  derived  all  the  benefit  she  could  claim  by  the  ad 
mission  of  every  territory  lying  south  of  the  line  of  36°  30' 
as  slave  states,  including  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Florida,  and 
Texas,  and  providing  for  four  more  slave  states  out  of  the 


160  THE   GKEAT   [REBELLION. 

Territory  of  Texas — I  say  the  immediate  effect  of  it  was  to 
give  form,  and  substance,  and  organization  to  the  party  ever 
since  known  as  the  Republican  party,  in  which  was  com 
bined  all  the  anti-slavery  men  of  every  degree,  most  of  the 
old-line  Whigs,  and  a  very  large  portion  of  the  Democracy, 
all  of  whom  were  shocked  and  indignant  at  the  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  South  to  appropriate  to  themselves  a-territory  to 
which  they  claimed  a  title-deed,  with  uninterrupted  posses 
sion  for  thirty-four  years. 

In  my  African  Church  speech  of  1856,  as  has  been  already 
seen,  I  said,  "Under  the  operation  of  that  law,  to  which  the 
integrity  and  the  honor  of  the  South  was  pledged,  the  South 
obtained  the  admission  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  as  slave 
states  when  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  North  to  have  re 
jected  them.  They  also  obtained  the  admission  of  Florida 
as  a  slave  state,  Texas  as  a  slave  state,  and  never — never 
while  there  was  an  opportunity  to  make  a  slave  state  out  of 
Southern  territory  did  they  dream  that  it  was  proper  to  re 
peal  that  law.  But  when  they  had  populated  all  their  own 
territories,  and  obtained  the  admission  of  all  their  slave 
states,  when  there  was  no  necessity  for  it  whatever,  they  at 
tempted  to  rob  the  North  of  its  just  due,  and  thereby  dis 
honestly  sacrificed  the  integrity  and  honor  of  the  South,  that 
were  pledged  to  carry  out  in  good  faith  the  bargain  entered 
into." 

The  utterance  of  this  unwholesome  and,  as  they  thought, 
most  untimely  truth,  created  intense  excitement  in  the  Dem 
ocratic  ranks.  It  was  isolated  from  the  rest  of  my  speech 
by  Mr.  Robert  G.  Scott  at  Corinthian  Hall,  and  commented 
on  with  much  sourness  of  temper.  But  it  can  not  be  for 
gotten  with  what  a  spirit  of  demoniac  bitterness  and  venom 
it  was  assailed  by  Governor  "Wise,  who  followed  Mr.  Scott, 
nor  the  severity  with  which  I  answered  these  two  gentle- 


TUE    GEEAT   REBELLION.  1G1 

men  the  next  night  at  the  African  Church,  and  again  at 
Petersburg.  After  characterizing  me  as  an  agitator  and  dis 
turber  of  the  public  peace,  a  demon  who  had  furnished  ar 
guments  to  the  Herald  and  Tribune  for  Fremont,  as  an  in 
cendiary  that  ought  to  be  arrested  and  indicted,  he  says : 
"  An  offense  like  this  cries  to  Heaven  against  one  who  ought 
to  have  let  his  right  hand  forget  its  cunning,  and  his  tongue 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  his  mouth  before  he  uttered  treason  to 
the  hearth  and  home  of  the  mother  *  who1  bore  him."  Now 
let  us  see  what  this  same  Governor  Wise  himself  said  a  short 
time  after,  in  one  of  the  numerous  letters  he  was  daily  throw 
ing  off  to  the  North  and  South  to  bolster  up  his  pretensions 
to  the  Presidency.  Pie  said  : 

"I  would  protect  her  (the  South)  from  the  authors  of  the 
Kansas-Hebraska  Bills,  from  the  wickedness,  and  the  fraud, 
and  the  folly  of  a  minority  attempting  to  establish  a  rule 
of  l fas  aut  nefas*  in  the  face  of  an  unscrupulous  majority. 
We  were  strong  on  the  moral  ground  of  equality ;  we  re 
linquished  that  when  we  attempted  to  assume  more  than 
equality,  and  we  lost  all  character  for  justice.  We  were 
wise  men  in  demanding  no  more  than  our  due,  and  we  have 
been  foolish  since  and  of  late  in  trying  to  deprive  others  of 
their  due.  We  have  challenged  a  competition  of  settlement 
with  a  then  slaveholding  agricultural  population,  on  our 
part  against  a  majority  host  of  commercial -trading,  free 
white,  free-soil  people,  who  have  not  all  houses,  and  who 
are  keeping  a  sharp  look-out  for  them,  and  who  can  use 
Sharp's  rifles,  put  into  their  hands  by  fanaticism,  to  acquire 
them. 

"  If  I  am  to  be  driven  out  as  a  dreamer,  I  will  at  least 
preserve  mine  integrity,  and  time  and  the  day  of  famine 
will  show  whose  counsel  and  whose  course  W7ill  have  saved 
the  household."  Now  if  this  is  not  a  plagiarism  from  my 


162  THE   GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

my  own  speeches,  it  can  not  be  denied  that  it  is  nearly  allied 
to  one,  and  I  leave  it  to  time  and  the  present  day  to  show 
whose  counsel  and  whose  course  would  have  "saved  the 
household." 

But  what  am  I  to  think  of  the  man  who  would  publicly 
and  semi-officially  denounce  me  for  what  I  had  said,  and,  be 
fore  the  words  were  cold  that  fell  from  his  lips,  borrow  my 
views,  and,  as  nearly  as  possible,  my  language  on  this  very 
point,  in  one  of  his  written  communications,  where  possibly 
it  might  help  him  to  use  it,  but  which  at  a  later  day  found 
its  way  to  the  public  press?  This  I  leave  to  the  better 
judgment  of  an  impartial  public.  But  to  return  from  this 
digression. 

THE   PEESIDENTIAL   QUESTIONS    OP    1856. 

The  time  for  the  nomination  in  1856  rolled  on,  the  Dem 
ocratic  Convention  met  in  Cincinnati,  the  two  great  actors 
in  the  Nebraska  swindle  were  set  aside — Pierce  and  Dong- 
las  were  both  defeated ;  they  had  only  served,  like  poor 
puss,  to  pull  the  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for  the  monkey 
to  eat.  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  was  understood  to  have  been 
opposed  to  the  disturbance  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
(though  then  abroad),  was  nominated  ;  and  thus  was  a 
triple  swindle  perpetrated  by  the  Democracy :  they  first 
cheated  the  country,  and  then  cheated  both  of  the  principal 
instruments  they  had  employed  for  cheating  the  people. 
Poor  Douglas  made  all  the  amends  he  could  for  his  folly, 
and  struggled  hard  to  get  out  of  the  meshes  into  which  his 
Southern  friends  and  allies  had  entangled  him,  but  if  he  had 
lived  to  the  age  of  Methusaleh,  he  could  not  have  recovered 
his  former  position. 

The  more  miserable  Pierce  was  left,  as  it  were,  to  rot 
upon  his  own  dunghill  in  New  Hampshire;  his  name  has 


THE   GEEAT   REBELLIOX.  163 

scarcely  ever  been  called  in  the  South  since,  and  he  has  no 
place  in  the  confidence,  the  affections,  or  respect  of  the 
North.  So  much  for  politicians  suffering  themselves  to  be 
seduced  from  the  path  of  rectitude  by  an  overweening  am 
bition.  Mr.  Fillmore,  the  "  model  President,"  as  he  had 
been  almost  universally  termed  by  the  Democracy,  after  his 
defeat  for  the  nomination  in  1852  by  General  Scott  was 
nominated  by  the  American  party,  but  was  nowhere  in  the 
race. 

The  Republican  party  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  as 
their  standard-bearer.  During  the  progress  of  the  cam 
paign,  the  prospects  of  his  election  were  so  encouraging  as 
to  render  his  success  next  akin  to  certainty,  and  it  was 
thought  the  last  Presidential  card  of  Democracy  had  been 
played,  and  the  trick,  as  they  thought,  would  be  trumped 
by  this  newly-organized  party  of  Republicans  ;  and  at  once 
the  cry  went  up  with  much  more  than  its  usual  force  "  that 
it  was  necessary  to  elect  a  Democrat  to  save  the  Union" 

The  Richmond  Inquirer  put  forth  an  editorial,  from  which 
the  following  is  an  extract :  "  Let  the  South  present  a  com 
pact  and  undivided  front.  Let  her  show  to  the  barbarians 
that  her  sparse  population  offers  little  hopes  of  plunder; 
her  military  and  self-reliant  habits,  and  her  mountain  re 
treats  little  prospect  of  victory ;  and  her  firm  union  and  de 
voted  resolution  no  chances  of  conquest.  Let  her,  if  possi 
ble,  detach  Pennsylvania  and  Southern  Ohio,  Southern  In 
diana,  and  Southern  Illinois  from  the  North,  and  make  the 
highlands  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Lakes  the  dividing  line. 
Let  the  South  treat  with  California,  and,  if  necessary,  ally 
herself  with  Hussia,  with  Cuba,  and  JBrazil" 

Mr.  Preston  Brooks,  the  nephew  of  Senator  Butler,  upon 
whom,  as  his  colleague,  the  mantle  of  Calhoun  seemed  to 
have  fallen  loosely  for  the  moment,  in  a  speech  made  to  the 


164  THE   CHEAT   REBELLION. 

people  of  South  Carolina,  said,  "  As  to  his  own  position,  he 
was  now,  as  he  was  in  1851,  a  co-operation  clisunionist.  He 
thought  it  best  to  dissolve  the  government  under  which  we 
now  live ;  but,  in  doing  this,  there  was  a  difference  of  opin 
ion  as  to  the  means  to  be  employed.  He  believed  that 
something  was  due  to  our  sister  Southern  States,  who  had 
the  same  interest  at  stake  as  we  —  that  we  should  be  pre 
pared  to  act  with  them  and  to  wait  on  them The 

great  question  of  the  Presidency  would  be  settled,  and  if 
on  the  second  Monday  of  November  next  it  shall  be  found 
that  Fremont  is  elected,  he  thought  our  course  was  plain. 
It  is  his  deliberate  opinion  that  ice  should  then,  on  the  4th 
of  March  next,  march  to  Washington,  seize  the  archives 
and  the  Treasury  of  the  government,  and  leave  the  conse 
quences  to  G-od" 

The  then  governor  of  this  state  (the  Unwise  Henry  A.), 
maddened  by  an  insane  and  devouring  ambition  to  be  do 
ing  something  that  would  keep  his  name  in  all  men's 
mouths,  seized  upon  these  indications  of  what  he  considered 
to  be  the  public  feeling,  and,  perhaps,  what  he  knew  to  be 
the  general  sentiment  of  the  leaders  of  the  party  to  which, 
in  the  premature  decline  of  his  manhood,  he  had  allied  him 
self,  and  was  disposed  to  make  himself  superserviceable  in 
any  capacity,  set  himself  to  work  to  organize  and  officer  the 
militia  of  the  state,  and  called  a  meeting  of  all  the  govern 
ors  of  the  Southern  States  to  meet  him  at  Raleigh,  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  a  force  to  march  to  Washington, 
seize  upon  the  archives  and  the  Treasury  of  the  government, 
and  "  leave  the  consequences  to  God"  or  the  devil,  as  it  is 
clear  he  was  the  master  in  whose  service  they  were  em 
ployed.  Governor  Adams,  of  South  Carolina,  was  the  only 
one  who  met  him,  and  thus  this  scheme  was  at  once  played 
out.  The  sensible  and  reflecting  leaders  had  concluded 


THE   GREAT  REBELLION.  165 

that  the  time  was  not  yet,  or  that  it  was  better  to  wait 
the  result  of  the  election,  as  there  might  still  be  time 
enough  to  prevent  the  inauguration  of  Fremont  in  the  event 
of  his  election. 

To  all  this,  which  I  cited  in  a  note  to  my  African  Church 
speech  in  1856, 1  called  the  attention  of  the  people  in  the 
following  language : 

"Let  what  may  happen  after  this  to  involve  us  in  civil 
commotion  and  disunion,  no  man  of  the  Democratic  party 
can  plead  as  an  excuse  his  ignorance  of  the  mischief  he  was 
perpetrating  by  acting  with  a  party  whose  objects  are  thus 
plainly  disclosed,  not  by  their  enemies,  but  by  themselves. 

"Let  the  people  read  and  reflect  before  they  vote. 

"  If  any  public  press  had  dared  to  utter  such  sentiments 
as  these  at  any  time  before  the  Calhoun  party  obtained  a 
foothold  in  the  South,  the  walls  of  his  building  would  have 
been  torn  down,  his  type  thrown  into  the  river,  and  the  au 
thor  himself  would  have  received  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers, 
and  have  been  driven  beyond  the  pale  of  civilized  society ; 
and  now  they  are  permitted  to  cast  the  odium  from  them 
selves  by  the  silly  and  childish  attempt  to  fasten  Black  Re 
publicanism  and  Abolitionism  on  all  who  do  not  foster  and 
encourage  their  infamous  doctrines." 

Here,  then,  was  another  warning  that  I  gave  the  people 
as  to  the  designs  of  their  leaders,  and  I  was  again  de 
nounced  for  that. 

But  this  threat  to  break  np  the  government  so  far  oper 
ated  on  the  timid  men  of  Pennsylvania,  together  with  the 
use  of  money  freely  contributed  in  New  York  and  expend 
ed  in  the  Keystone  State,  secured  the  election  of  Mr.  Bu 
chanan,  and  thus  was  the  revolution  staved  off  four  years, 
which  it  is  now  manifest  they  were  then  earnestly  bent  on 
bringing  about,  rather  than  surrender  their  power  and  sub- 


x 

166  THE    GREAT   KEBELLIOX. 

rait  to  a  full  investigation  and  exposure  of  all  the  atrocities 
they  had  committed  in  the  last  five-and-twenty  years.  True, 
the  people  were  not  prepared  for  such  an  issue,  nor  were 
they  in  1861 ;  yet,  if  they  suffered  themselves  to  be  bullied 
into  it  now  as  they  did,  why  would  not  the  same  routine 
of  operations  have  served  the  purpose  then  ? 

But  " the  handwriting  was  on  the  watt"  and  it  was  clear 
ly  foreseen  that  this  was  the  last  expiring  effort  of  Democ 
racy,  and  that  4Ms  was  the  last  Democratic  President  to  be 
elected ;  and  they  at  once  Avent  to  work  and  cleared  the 
deck  for  action,  and  from  that  time  to  the  day  of  secession 
the  country  has  been  kept  in  a  constant  state  of  turmoil  and 
commotion.  It  was  expedient,  if  not  necessary,  to  familiar 
ize  the  public  mind  to  the  idea  of  disunion,  as  they  thought, 
and  it  was  still  more  necessary  to  keep  the  mind  of  the 
South  in  a  frenzied  state  of  excitement  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  and  of  the  injustice,  inequality,  and  wrong  of  not 
being  permitted  to  extend  it  to  the  territories,  from  which 
it  had  been  expressly  excluded  by  the  founders  of  the  gov 
ernment  in  1787,  and,  still  more  recently,  actually  excluded 
by  their  own  legislation  in  1820. 

THE   ATTEMPT   TO   MAKE   KANSAS   A   SLAVE   STATE. 

The  next  step  taken  by  the  Southern  Democracy  was  the 
attempt  to  force  slavery  into  the  Territory  of  Kansas  —  for 
what  purpose?  it  may  be  asked.  It  was  considerably  be 
yond  the  slaveholding  region  of  the  United  States,  where 
neither  the  soil  nor  climate  were  adapted  to  slave  labor,  and 
where  the  insecurity  of  the  property  would  have  deterred 
any  rational  man  from  carrying  his  slaves ;  why,  then,  were 
emigrant -aid  societies  gotten  up  in  the  Southern  States, 
private  and  public  subscriptions  raised,  large  appropriations 
made  by  the  state  Legislatures  from  their  public  treasuries 


THE   GKEAT   EEBELLION.  167 

to  pay  the  expenses  of  those  from  the  Slave  States,  who 
could  be  induced,  with  or  without  slave  property,  to  settle 
in  Kansas  ?  They  never  expected  nor  hoped  to  make  a  per 
manent  slave  state  of  Kansas,  Why,  then,  all  this  manage 
ment  and  expenditure?  Why,  because  it  was  a  part  of  the 
programme  by  which  the  North  was  to  be  kept  in  a  vio 
lent  state  of  exasperation,  and  the  South  in  fevered  excite 
ment  on  the  subject  of  "  our  rights"  in  the  territories,  and 
at  the  opposition  that  was  made  to  those  rights  by  the  peo 
ple  of  the  North. 

In  speaking  of  the  controversies  between  the  two  sections 
on  the  subject  of  slavery,  if  I  do  not  arraign  the  North 
as  often  as  I  do  the  South,  it  is  not  because  I  hold  them 
guiltless ;  very  far  from  it,  for  they  have  done  a  great  many 
things  by  which  they  not  only  entitled  themselves  to  severe 
censure  and  rebuke,  but  to  the  just  punishment  of  the  of 
fended  laws  of  the  "United  States  —  such  as  their  occasional 
opposition  to  the  execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  the 
passage  of  their  Personal  Liberty  Bills,  etc. ;  but  I  do  mean 
to  say  that  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
which  was  the  proximate  and  immediate  cause  of  all  the 
troubles  now  upon  the  country,  and  for  the  evils  that  have 
grown  out  of  it,  the  South  is  not  only  particularly,  but 
exclusively  and  solely  to  blame ;  and  I  say,  moreover,  as 
far  as  the  leaders  were  concerned,  it  was  not  done  through 
inadvertence,  want  of  judgment,  or  by  accident,  but  by  de 
sign,  from  a  studied  and  flagitious  purpose  to  produce  the 
very  results  that  have  followed  ;  and  the  attempt  since  made 
to  shift  the  responsibility  from  their  own  shoulders  to  those 
of  the  Abolitionists,  as  much  belies  the  truth  of  history  as 
does  the  attempt  noio  every  where,  and  by  almost  every 
body,  made  to  shift  the  responsibility  of  making  this  war 
from  the  shoulders  of  South  Carolina  and  the  other  South- 


168  THE   GEEAT   REBELLION. 

era  States  to  those  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  which  he  had  no 
more  agency  in  making  than  I  had ;  for  he  not  only  found 
war  actually  existing  when  he  came  into  power,  but  it  had 
been  actively  carried  on  for  several  months  during  the  ad 
ministration  of  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Buchanan,  without  an 
effort  on  his  part  to  arrest  it,  if  it  was  not  secretly  winked 
at  and  encouraged,  especially  in  its  earlier  stages.  Another 
reason  for  not  having  said  more  of  the  Northern  Abolition 
ists  was,  because  whatever  might  have  been  their  personal 
inclinations  and  their  local  action  in  the  states,  they  were 
impotent  for  mischievous  legislation,  and  never  originated, 
or  had  the  power  to  carry  out  any  of  the  ruinous  measures 
that  culminated  in  the  great  catastrophe ;  all  this  was  the 
work  of  Southern  agitators  and  Southern  Democracy ;  and, 
therefore,  I  have  had  less  to  say  of  the  Abolition  party 
than  I  otherwise  should,  believing  it  to  have  been  created, 
nursed,  and  encouraged  by  designing  politicians  South  for  a 
purpose  little  suspected  by  the  deluded  people  upon  whom 
the  cheat  was  put. 

But  while  the  South  was  thus  actively  engaged  in  send 
ing  off  their  own  people  to  Kansas  that  they  might  adopt 
a  Constitution  recognizing  slavery,  the  North  was  far  from 
being  inactive  spectators  of  what  was  going  on ;  they  were 
also  at  work,  and  with  every  advantage  in  their  favor.  In 
my  first  letter  on  the  Nebraska  Bill  in  1854,  I  said,  "  The 
next  question  is,  by  which  section  of  the  country  could  this 
territory  be  filled  up  with  the  greatest  facility  ?  The  slave 
holder  of  the  South  is  generally  a  landholder  on  a  larger  or 
smaller  scale ;  he  would  necessarily  require  time  to  sell  out 
his  lands,  stock,  and  chattels,  while  the  free  laborer  of  the 
North  packs  his  carpet-bag  at  night,  buckles  his  belt  around 
his  body,  and  is  off  at  the  first  whistle  of  the  locomotive. 
Thus  will  he  settle  the  territory  and  declare  it  free  while 


THE    GREAT  REBELLION.  169 

the  Southern  man  is  getting  ready  to  start."  (For  a  far 
ther  plagiarism  of  this  idea,  see  General  Wise's  letter 
above.)  And  so  it  proved  to  be.  It  was  settled  by  the 
surplus  population  of  the  North  while  the  South  was  mak 
ing  haste  to  get  ready. 

Finding  themselves  overpowered  by  numbers  in  Kansas, 
the  South — I  say  the  South,  because  it  was  done  by  South 
ern  men,  and  the  Southern  members  of  Congress  without 
exception,  as  far  as  I  know,  unless  Mr.  Millson,  of  the  Nor 
folk  district,  formed  an  exception,  all  approved  and  encour 
aged  it;  and  the  Southern  people,  with  very  rare  excep 
tions,  participated  in  the  excitement  growing  out  of  it;  the 
Southern  Democracy,  their  aiders  and  abettors,  I  say  resort 
ed  to  stratagem  and  trickery  to  effect  what  by  open  and 
undisguised  means  they  had  failed  in,  and  that  by  a  most 
open,  bold,  unprincipled,  and  nefarious  swindle,  to  force 
upon  the  people  of  Kansas  a  Constitution  framed  by  the 
representatives  of  about  two  thousand  persons  out  of  a  pop 
ulation  of  twenty  thousand,  by  which  slavery  was  not  only 
declared  to  be  a  perpetual  institution,  but  that  no  man 
should  be  permitted  to  question  it,  and  affixing  high  penal 
ties,  either  of  death  or  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary,  for 
any  who  should  write,  print,  or  publish  or  circulate  in  the 
territory  any  book,  paper,  magazine,  pamphlet,  or  circular 
containing  a  denial  of  the  right  of  persons  to  hold  slaves, 
etc.,  etc.,  with  other  equally  offensive  provisions,  upon  which 
the  people  were  not  permitted  to  vote,  because,  as  it  was 
openly  avowed,  it  was  known  they  would  reject  it,  but  were 
to  have  it  crammed  down  their  throats  as  you  would  cram 
dough  down  the  throat  of  a  calf  to  fatten  it  for  market. 

I  have  not  the  time  or  space  to  write  out  the  history  of 
this  piece  of  Democratic  handicraft,  wliich  excited  the  dis 
gust  and  contempt  of  every  man  who  had  any  regard  for 

H 


170  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

the  freedom  of  his  own  race,  or  any  respect  for  honesty  and 
fair  dealing.  Now  that  the  excitement  of  the  occasion  has 
passed  off,  I  know  that  there  are  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  who,  if  they  would  examine  this  subject  and  its 
history  fairly,  could  scarcely  be  made  to  believe  they  had 
ever  permitted  themselves  to  be  made  participators  in,  or 
had  lent  their  active  aid  to  the  perpetration  of  such  an  in 
iquity.  Yet  such  was  the  fact ;  this  was  a  part  and  parcel, 
and  but  one  of  the  scenes  in  the  great  drama  that  had  been 
put  upon  the  stage  by  Southern  Democracy,  the  boasted 
friends  and  champions  of  the  rights  of  the  people  and  the 
rights  of  the  states;  and  then  the  people  of  the  South,  in  the 
wild  excitement  of  their  passions,  were  made  to  believe  that 
the  resistance  offered  to  this  scheme  of  tyranny,  despotism, 
and  fraud  by  men  who  had  the  right  to  establish  their  or 
ganic  law  that  we  claimed  for  ourselves,  was  an  unconstitu 
tional  and  unholy  war  made  upon  the  rights  of  the  South. 
I  quote  what  I  said  of  it  at  the  time  in  my  Academy  of 
Music  speech  in  1859. 

MR.  EOTTS'S   SPEECII   IN  NEW   YORK   IN    1859. 

"They  claim  to  be  a  State-rights  party,  and  utterly  deny 
that  any  man  can  be  a  friend  to  the  rights  of  the  states 
who  does  not  attach  himself  to  their  Democratic  organiza 
tion. 

"  Well,  in  the  course  of  my  reading  and  my  experience 
I  have  known  of  but  few  instances  in  which  there  has  been 
any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  general  government  to  inter 
fere  with  or  encroach  upon  the  rights  of  the  states ;  and 
those  few  are  very  striking  and  very  remarkable  instances, 
as  well  as  of  transcendant  importance,  and  of  very  recent 
date,  and  have  all  originated  and  been  sustained  by  the 
Democratic  party. 


THE    GREAT   KEEELLIOX.  171 

"The  first  case  v,ras  that  of  the  Lecompton  Constitution, 
in  which  the  doctrine  was  asserted  by  a  State-rights  Repub 
lican  Democratic  President  (for  that  is  the  title  they  have 
assumed  to  themselves),  and  strenuously  attempted  to  be 
carried  out  in  Congress,  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the 
Federal  authorities  to  legislate  one  of  the  territories  of  this 
government  as  a  state  into  the  Union,  with  a  Constitution 
which  had  never  been  submitted  to  the  people  for  ratifica 
tion,  on  the  avowed  ground  that,  if  submitted,  it  would  be 
rejected,  and  against  which  seven  tenths  of  the  people  of 
that  territory  were  then  remonstrating  and  protesting — a 
doctrine  that  struck  a  death-blow  at  the  basis  and  founda 
tion  of  our  Revolution  —  a  doctrine  that  denied  both  the 
right  and  the  capacity  of  the  people  for  self-government — a 
doctrine,  the  advocacy  of  which,  in  the  absence  of  party 
machinery  and  party  demands,  there  was  not  one  of  its  ad 
vocates  within  the  broad  limits  of  this  nation  whose  stand 
ing  and  popularity  could  have  withstood  the  storm  of  pop 
ular  indignation  and  wrath  with  which  he  would  have  been 
overwhelmed — a  doctrine  that  was  the  most  anti-Democrat 
ic,  anti-Republican,  anti-state-rights,  anti-constitutional,  anti- 
common-sense,  and  anti-common-honesty  doctrine  that  was 
ever  propounded  to  the  American  people ;  and  yet  there 
was  not  one  Southern  Democrat  in  either  house  of  Con 
gress  that  had  the  consistency,  the  principle,  or  the  inde 
pendence  to  vote  against  it.  And  it  is  a  historical  fact 
never  to  be  forgotten  or  overlooked,  that  the  only  party  in 
this  country  that  could  be  found  to  give  it  their  support 
was  the  Democratic  Republican  State-rights  party,  and  that 
that  fraction  of  the  party  claiming,  "  par  excellence,"  to  be 
the  true  and  genuine  Simon-pure  State-rights  wing  of  the 
party,  gave  it  the  most  earnest  and  active  support. 

"For  my  own  part,  having  just  returned  from  abroad 


172  THE    GREAT    REBELLION. 

when  this  question  was  raging  with  its  greatest  violence 
in  Congress,  I  stood  by  an  inactive  but  not  an  unconcerned 
spectator,  feeling  that  if  the  final  result  should  show  that 
the  power  and  influence  of  the  President  had  become  so 
omnipotent  and  overwhelming,  or  that  the  people  had  be 
come  so  debased  and  indifferent  to  their  own  rights  and 
the  enjoyment  of  free  government,  as  to  have  submitted  pa 
tiently  to  such  outrageous  and  intolerable  oppression  and 
wrong,  that  then  there  was  no  despotism  in  the  Old  World 
under  which  I  would  not  as  soon  have  lived  as  under  the 
tyrannical  and  iron  despotism  of  Democracy. 

"  Thanks  to  God,  the  doctrine  did  not  prevail ;  and, 
thanks  to  God,  the  people  are  resolved  to  be  left  free  to 
choose  their  own  form  of  government,  in  defiance  of  bribes 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  threats  on  the  other  of  the  Demo 
cratic  Republican  State-rights  party  that  now  holds  the 
reins  of  government  in  its  hands,  I  trust  for  a  limited  period 
only ;  for  if  after  this  they  shall  be  retained  in  power,  the 
moral  effect  and  virtue  of  the  action  of  the  people  will  have 
been  thrown  away. 

"  Does  this  action  of  the  party  indeed  constitute  Democ 
racy  ?  If  a  case  parallel  to  this  could  occur  in  England,  it 
would  drive  any  ministry  into  everlasting  disgrace,  if  no 
more.  In  France  it  would  produce  a  revolution  that  no 
power  of  government  could  resist.  In  Russia  it  would  be 
regarded  as  an  act  of  detestable  tyranny,  against  which  the 
serfs  themselves  would  rebel.  Yet  here  it  is  claimed  as 
evidence  of  Democratic  consistency,  and  adherence  to  the 
principles  of  true  Democracy. 

<;  Look  again  at  the  question  of  the  admission  of  Kan 
sas  under  a  new  Constitution.  Every  Southern  Democrat 
has  already  voted  for  its  admission  under  a  Constitution 
that  the  people  of  Kansas  have  disavowed,  rejected,  and 


THE   GEEAT   REBELLION.  173 

spurned.  They  were  offered  admission,  with  their  thirty- 
five  thousand  population,  if  they  would  ignore  all  that  had 
passed,  stultify  themselves,  and  yield  obedience  to  the  dic 
tation  of  the  Federal  Executive  and  Congress ;  and  now, 
since  they  have  indignantly  rejected  the  bribe,  and  spurned 
the  threats  which  accompanied  it,  it  is  recommended  by  the 
representative  of  the  Democratic  State- rights  party,  that 
one  rule  shall  be  adopted  for  the  admission  of  Kansas,  and 
another  for  Oregon,  and  all  the  other  territories  of  the 
United  States. 

"  May  we  not  ask,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  what  has  this 
government  come  to?  In  what  direction  are  we  drifting? 
What  haven  are  we  to  reach  ?  Is  this  Democracy  ?  Is 
this  justice  ?  Is  this  honesty  ?  Is  this  constitutional  liber 
ty  ?  Is  this  what  our  fathers  fought  for  ?  Is  this  state 
rights  ?  Is  one  territory  to  be  left  free  to  form  a  govern 
ment  to  suit  itself,  and  another  to  be  required  to  frame  one 
to  suit  the  President  or  the  Democratic  party  ?  Is  this  the 
way  the  President  hopes  to  put  down  agitation,  and  restore 
harmony  to  our  already  distracted  country  ?  Yet  where 
is  that  party  which  looms  up  in  bold  relief  for  the  equality 
and  sovereignty  of  all  the  states?  Where  is  that  Democ 
racy  that  is  always  loud-mouthed  in  proclaiming  the  equal 
ity  and  sovereignty  of  the  people  ?" 

I  also  append  a  sketch  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Kansas 
Convention,  as  taken  from  the  National  Intelligencer  of  that 
day,  that  a  fair  conception  may  be  formed  of  what  an  out 
rage  the  South  had  been  led  to  take  an  active  part  in  per 
petrating,  while,  as  I  have  said,  they  were  made  to  believe 
they  were  only  contending  for  their  plain  legal  rights  in  the 
territories,  of  which  they  were  about  to  be  unceremonious 
ly  robbed.  Here  is  the  sketch : 

"  The  Douglas  wing  of  the  Convention  wanted  to  submit 


174  THE   GEEAT   EEBELLIOX. 

the  slave  clause  to  the  people,  but  not  the  body  of  the 
Constitution.  The  plan  is  to  force  the  people  to  vote  for 
the  instrument  itself,  whether  they  are  for  it  or  against  it. 
This  Constitution  legalizes  all  the  laws  past  by  the  spurious 
Legislature,  including  the  Black  Code,  which  punishes  with 
death  those  who  oppose  slavery. 

"  We  have  space  only  for  a,  condensed  sketch  of  the  pro 
ceedings  : 

"Mr.  John  Randolph,  a  blunt,  outspoken  pro-slavery  del 
egate  representing  Atchison  County,  in  the  course  of  de 
bate  on  Friday  said  that  he  was  in  favor  of  the  minority 
report,  because  he  considered  the  plan  of  the  majority  (Cal- 
houn's)  a  swindle.  The  idea  of  submitting  one  clause  of  the 
Constitution,  and  not  allowing  the  people  to  vote  on  the 
whole,  was  mean,  cowardly,  and  infamous;  it  was  worse 
than  a  swindle,  it  was  scoundrelism !  He  ridiculed  the  idea 
that  the  love  of  Democracy  and  the  principles  of  free  suf 
frage  actuated  the  '  Nationals'  in  the  Convention.  Else 
why  did  they  deny  to  the  people  the  right  to  vote  upon 
the  whole  instrument  ?  He  was  in  favor  of  submitting  the 
whole  or  none;  he  was  down  on  all  sneaking,  half-way 
dodges.  For  himself,  he  believed  the  Convention  to  be  a 
sovereign  body,  and  therefore  possessing  the  right  to  send 
up  to  Congress  its  Constitution  without  submitting  it  to  the 
people  at  large.  He  was  opposed  from  principle  to  letting 
the  Abolitionists  and  Black  Republicans  vote  down  their 
Constitution,  as  they  would  do  if  they  had  a  chance.  What 
he  did  he  wanted  to  do  openly;  he  was  opposed  to  stab 
bing  in  the  dark.  He  hated  Judases,  who  kissed  only  to 
betray.  The  majority  report  was  a  cheat  and  a  fraud. 

"  Mr,  Morley,  of  Riley  County,  pitched  into  both  reports. 
He  denounced  the  proposition  of  the  majority  as  a  base  at 
tempt  to  swindle  the  people,  and  the  minority  report  as  a 


THE   GEEAT  IlEBELLIOX.  175 

high-handed  outrage.  He  said  that  the  '  Nationals'  wanted 
to  slip  poison  into  the  Free-soilcrs'  cup,  while  the  Atchispn- 
ites  were  for  blowing  out  their  brains  openly,  and  that  was 
all  the  difference  between  them  on  the  slavery  question. 
He  then  offered  a  substitute  proposing  to  submit  the  whole 
Constitution  to  all  the  legal  voters,  with  a  proviso  requir 
ing  every  voter  to  swear  to  support  this  Constitution  if  it 
should  be  ratified,  the  Nebraska  Bill,  and  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law.  His  substitute  was  tabled  by  a  large  majority. 

"  Colonel  Jenkins,  fugleman  of  the  ultraists,  next  spoke. 
He  took  the  broad  Southern  Democratic  ground,  and  claim 
ed  that  the  Convention  held  the  sovereignty,  and  should 
decide  not  to  submit  the  Constitution,  or  any  part  of  it,  to 
the  people.  He  said  the  public  good  and  the  proper  equi 
librium  between  the  Free  and  Slave  States  required  that 
Kansas  should  come  into  the  Union  as  a  slave  state.  He 
knew  it  would  be  received  if  a  slave  Constitution  was  sent 
up  to  Washington.  He  said  that  he  had  read  a  letter  from 
President  Buchanan  to  a  prominent  member  of  the  Pro- 
slavery  party  in  Kansas,  to  the  effect  that  the  'Constitution 
would  be  received  in  the  form  as  sent  up  by  this  Conven 
tion. 

"  Mr.  Wells,  of  Douglas  County,  was  opposed  to  both  re 
ports.  He  denounced  in  bitter  terms  those  who  were  des 
ignated  as  Abolitionists  in  the  Convention.  They  were  all 
National  Democrats ;  there  was  not  a  Black  Republican 
among  them.  Although  he  considered  Republicans  as  en 
emies  to  the  Constitution  and  country,  yet  they  were  citi 
zens,  and  entitled  to  a  voice  in  the  institutions  under  which 
they  must  live.  We  can  not  get  over  this,  and  we  should 
not,  said  he,  make  a  Constitution  in  which  the  people  were 
prevented  from  expressing  themselves  on  the  institutions 
under  which  they  wish  to  live.  This  Convention  represents 


176  THE    GEEAT   REBELLION. 

only  two  thousand  voters,  and  there  are  twenty  thousand  in 
Kansas.  It  was  repugnant  to  all  his  ideas  of  right  for  two 
thousand  men  to  attempt  to  dictate  to  ten  times  their  num 
ber,  and  force  upon  them  institutions  which  they  hated  and 
abhorred.  He  did  not  believe  that  Congress  would  accept 
a  Constitution  so  framed ;  he  thought  the  Northern  Demo 
crats  would  not  dare  to  vote  for  admitting  a  state  under 
such  circumstances ;  and,  if  they  did,  the  Black  Republicans 
would  destroy  the  party  in  every  free  state.  The  destruc 
tion  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  North  would  be  a  ca 
lamity  which  the  admission  of  a  dozen  slave  states  would 
not  counterbalance. 

"  General  Calhoun,  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  made  a  long 
speech  in  favor  of  the  majority  report,  and  of  only  submit 
ting  the  slavery  clause  to  the  people.  He  was  opposed  to 
giving  the  'Topekaites'  a  chance  to  'vote  down  our  Demo 
cratic  Constitution.'  The  majority  report  would  compel 
the  Abolitionists  to  vote  for  the  Constitution  while  they 
Avcre  voting  down  the  slave  clause,  no  matter  how  repug 
nant  it  might  be  to  them.  ;  In  this  way  we  have  got  them 
tight,'  said  he, c  and  they  can't  help  themselves.'  There  are 
several  provisions  in  the  body  of  the  instrument  which  suffi 
ciently  protect  slave  property,  which,  with  the  Dred  Scott 
decision,  is  all  that  Southern  gentlemen  should  ask.  By 
this  means  Kansas  will  come  into  the  Union  as  a  Democrat 
ic  state  like  Illinois. 

"  A  dozen  other  speeches  were  made,  which  we  have  not 
room  to  sketch. 

"  As  the  matter  stood  at  adjournment,  the  Fire-eaters  had 
achieved  a  signal  triumph.  A  clause  had  been  adopted  in 
the  Constitution  making  Kansas  forever  a  slave  state;  and 
this  Constitution  was  ordered  to  be  sent  to  Congress  with 
out  submission  to  the  people  in  any  shape,  not  even  in  the 


THE   GEEAT   REBELLION.  177 

swindling  form  proposed  by  the  Douglasites.  The  people 
of  Kansas  are  in  a  ferment.  An  explosion  may  take  place 
at  any  moment.  An  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  is 
talked  of,  and  also  a  general  convention  of  the  Free-state 
party,  to  decide  upon  the  best  policy  to  pursue  in  reference 
to  the  spurious  pro-slavery  Constitution.  The  affairs  of 
Kansas  are  yet  far  from  settled.  The  Nebraska  Bill  is 
working  most  beautifully !" 

The  pro-slavery  report  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  twenty- 
six  to  twenty-three. 

This  was  the  measure  that,  in  a  copy  of  the  Richmond 
Whig  now  before  me,  is  declared  to  be  the  "  test-question 
between  the  North  and  the  South,"  by  which  the  orthodoxy 
and  fidelity  of  every  man  was  to  be  tried ;  and  because,  with 
a  knowledge  of  the  facts  here  recited,  I  could  not  lend  my 
support  to  this  shameless  fraud  and  disgraceful  piece  of 
trickery  anpl  despotism,  I  was  not  only  proscribed  by  my 
enemies,  but  looked  upon  with  distrust  by  a  large  number 
of  my  own  party.  Could  any  thing  better  serve  to  show 
the  state  of  ignorance  or  utter  depravity  in  which  parties  in 
the  South  hacf  been  kept  by  their  excitement  or  reduced  by 
the  iron  heel  of  Democracy? 

THE   JOHN   BROWN   KAID. 

Then,  too,  was  rebellion  again  threatened  if  they  elected 
Banks  Speaker  of  the  House ;  but  he  was  elected,  and,  so 
far  from  rebelling,  many  of  the  rebels  united  at  the  close  of 
the  session  in  a  vote  of  thanks  for  the  ability  and  impartial 
ity  he  had  displayed.  The  same  scenes  were  re-enacted  at 
the  time  that  Sherman  was  a  candidate ;  and  then  at  last, 
as  if  the  devil  himself  had  engaged  in  their  service,  came  the 
John  Brown  raid,  which  many  of  the  leaders  in  Richmond 
declared  to  be  a  "godsend"  for  the  party  ;  and  then,  again, 

112 


178  THE    GKEAT   EEBELLIOX. 

the  Helper  book,  brought  to  light  by  the  New  York  Herald 
to  help  them  along  with  their  most  unrighteous  work  of 
manufacturing  excitement  which  now  amounted  to  frenzy. 

The  wild  freak  of  this  crazy  fanatic,  John  Brown,  aided 
and  helped  on  by  the  scarcely  less  crazy  fanatic  who  then 
exercised  the  functions  of  chief  magistrate  of  this  state,  af 
forded  a  convenient  opportunity  for  the  blood-and-thunder 
scenes  that  are  usually  gotten  up  behind  the  curtains,  but 
on  this  occasion  were  not  only  performed  in  the  midst  of 
the  audience,  but  they,  the  audience,  were,  as  if  by  a  magic 
wand,  converted  into  managers  and  actors  of  the  play.  The 
city  of  Richmond  was  thrown  into  a  ferment  that  has  rarely 
had  its  parallel  even  in  Paris,  which  soon  extended  to  and 
was  spread  all  over  the  state.  When  we  look  back,  at  this 
distance  of  time,  calmly  and  dispassionately  at  the  scenes  of 
that  day,  it  would  be  amusing,  except  that  they  were  too 
ridiculous,  and  yet  too  serious  to  excite  a  laugh  over  the  fol 
lies  that  ruled  the  hour.  I  have  seen  nothing  like  it  since 
the  war  commenced,  unless  it  might  have  been  on  that  mem 
orable  Sunday  when  the  city  was  startled  with  the  appalling 
cry  that  the  Pawnee  was  coming  up  James  River,  when  ev 
ery  pocket-pistol  for  miles  around  was  brought  into  requisi 
tion  for  her  total  annihilation.  *But  the  John  Brown  affair 
answered  the  purposes  of  the  party ;  it  not  only  excited  the 
universal  apprehension  for  the  safety  of  the  slave  property 
of  the  South,  but  it  furnished  an  occasion  for  the  display  of 
military  ardor  rarely  witnessed  by  any  people,  the  cost  of 
which  to  the  state  bordered  on  half  a  million  of  dollars. 
The  eighteen  or  nineteen  followers  of  old  Brown,  free  ne 
groes  and  whites,  were  nearly  all  caught  and  executed ; 
bushels  of  letters  that  have  never  seen  the  light  were  said 
to  have  been  received  by  "  his  excellency,"  implicating  a 
large  number  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  Republican 


THE   GEE  AT   KEBELLION.  179 

party ;  and  when  the  Republican  members  of  the  Investi 
gating  Committee  of  the  Senate  demanded  that  the  govern 
or  should  be  summoned  to  testify  and  exhibit  the  letters  in 
his  possession,  Mr.  Mason,  the  chairman  of  the  committee, 
backed  by  the  members  of  his  own  party,  peremptorily  de 
clined  to  furnish  the  proof  of  what  they  had  charged,  al 
though  that  proof  was  claimed  to  be  in  the  possession  of  the 
governor.  But  even  this  did  not  block  the  game  that  was  be 
ing  played.  The  Legislature  demanded,  and  ultimately  dra-* 
gooned  the  unsuspecting  or  timid  Whigs,  if  there  were  any 
then  that  could  be  so  called,  to  grant  without  serious  opposi 
tion  large  appropriations  of  money  for  arming  the  citizen  sol 
diers,  erecting  armories,  manufacturing  and  purchasing  arms, 
etc. — all  preparatory  to  this  very  war,  which  they  knew  was 
at  hand,  and  which  I  was  most  bitterly  denounced  for  ex 
posing  at  the  time  in  my  letter  addressed  to  certain  mem 
bers  of  the  Legislature,  in  which  I  set  forth  the  folly  of  what 
they  were  contributing  to  bring  about.  I  think  there  has  * 
scarcely  been  any  period  of  time  during  this  war  when  the 
public  mind  was  more  excited  than  it  was  from  the  time  of 
the  discovery  of  John  Brown's  entrance  into  Virginia  up  to 
his  execution  (some  thirty  days),  all  of  which  was  manufac-^ 
tured  for  a  purpose  by  "his  excellency,  the  governor,"  who 
was  always  ready  "  to  fight  in  the  Union,"  but  has  done 
precious  little  fighting  since  he  left  it,  although  he  contrib 
uted  largely  toward  taking  himself  and  the  state  out  togeth 
er,  as  far  as  the  state  could  be  carried  out. 

THE   NOMINATIONS   FOR   PRESIDENT   IN    1860. 

But  at  length  the  time  arrived  for  the  nomination  of  can 
didates  for  the  Presidency  in  1860  by  the  three  parties  then 
existing — to  wit,  the  Democratic  party,  the  "  Opposition" 
party,  and  the  Republican.  The  Opposition  party  nomin- 


180  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

ated  first,  and  nominated  "  honest  John  Bell"  as  an  honest 
Union  man,  and  so  he  was  as  long  as  it  promised  to  be  prof 
itable  to  be  so.  The  Democrats  met  at  Charleston,  and  the 
^cessionists  and  conservatives,  not  being  able  to  agree, 
broke  up  in  a  row.  The  former  wing  afterward  met  in 
Richmond  and  nominated  John  C.  Brecldnridge,  of  Ken 
tucky,  who  is  now  in  arms  against  both  governments,  state 
:iml  federal;  and  yet  he  is  held  in  these  Confederate  States 
us  a  brilliant  type  of  a  true  patriot.  The  other  wing  met  in 
Baltimore  and  nominated  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  The  Repub 
licans  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln,  and,  as  a  part  of  their 
platform,  adopted  the  following  resolution  : 

"That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the 
states,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  state  to  order  and 
control  its  own  domestic  institutions  according  to  its  own 
judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power 
on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fab 
ric  depends ;  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion  by  arm 
ed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  state  or  territory,  no  matter  un 
der  what  party,  as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes." 

This  was  a  part  of  the  platform  on  which  Lincoln  was 
elected,  while  he  himself,  when  a  candidate  for  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  against  Judge  Douglas,  and  when  he 
sought  the  vote  of  the  Abolition  party,  never  then  dream 
ing  perhaps  of  being  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  was 
known  to  have  said,  '*!  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indi 
rectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  where  it 
exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  in 
clination  to  do  so."  Upon  which,  together  with  other  sim 
ilar  declarations  during  his  canvass  in  the  State  of  Illinois, 
Judah  P.  Benjamin — the  St.  Domingo  Jew,  since  Secretary 
of  State  for  the  Confederacy  (God  help  us!) — said  in  the 
Senate  that  Lincoln  was  a  safer  and  sounder  man  on  the 


THE    GREAT   EEBELLIOX.  181 

slavery  question  than  Douglas,  who  by  this  time  had  be 
come  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  Southern  Democracy, 
because  Douglas,  who  found  himself  cheated  by  the  South 
in  the  nomination  he  had  expected,  desired  now  to  make  fa 
vor  with  the  North  by  adhering  to  the  doctrine  of  "non-in 
tervention,"  or  hands  off,  which  constituted  the  main  feature 
of  the  Nebraska  Bill,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  ^j  to  the 
North,  while  the  South  now  sternly  repudiated  this  doc 
trine,  which  at  first  constituted  with  them  the  chief  and  al 
most  only  recommendation  for  the  passage  of  the  bill,  be 
cause  they  found  it  would  not  pay  to  the  South. 

THE    CONSPIEACY    DEVELOPED. 

Yet  no  sooner  was  this  "  safer  and  sounder  man" — in  the 
language  of  the  Jew — nominated,  than  the  tocsin  of  war 
was  sounded.  The  platform  on  which  he  was  presented  to 
the  country,  together  with  all  that  he  had  said  as  quoted 
above,  was  not  only  ignored,  but  resolutely  and  persevering- 
ly  denied ;  and  it  was  every  where  proclaimed  that  his  elec 
tion  would  inevitably  inaugurate  a  war  against  the  institu 
tions  of  the  South,  until  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
well-meaning  and  patriotic  men  were  led  to  believe  that 
their  welfare,  safety,  and  honor  all  depended  upon  the  de 
struction  of  such  a  government  as  the  world  will  never  per 
haps  look  upon  again. 

In  the  mean  time  four  at  least  of  jthe  Democratic  Cabinet 
of  Mr.  Buchanan  wrere  lending  every  energy  toward  the 
overthrow  of  the  government  they  were  sworn  to  support, 
while  he  was  too  Democratic,  if  not  too  treacherous  to  re 
sist. 

Up  to  this  time  the  highest  aspirations  of  the  leaders  had 
been  to  break  up  the  Union  and  establish  a  Southern  Con 
federacy  ;  to  this  they  hoped  at  a  future  day  to  annex  Cuba 


182  THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

and  a  considerable  portion  of  Mexico,  under  which  the  pow 
er  of  the  Democracy  would  remain  undisturbed.  But  when 
they  found  nearly  the  wThole  power  of  the  government  en 
listed  in  behalf  of  the  contemplated  rebellion,  when  they 
found  the  heads  of  so  many  of  the  departments,  embracing 
the  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury,  War,  Navy,  and  Interior, 
viz.,  Messrs.  Howell  Cobb,  John  B.  Floyd,  Isaac  M.  Toucey, 
and  Jacob  Thompson,  all  lending  an  active  co-operation  to 
their  treasonable  purposes,  and  the  President  himself,  ei 
ther  from  imbecility,  cowardice,  or  wrant  of  patriotism,  if 
not  decidedly  encouraging  the  movement,  at  least  indis 
posed  to  take  any  steps  to  check  its  progress,  then  "  vault 
ing  ambition  o'erleaped  itself,"  and,  with  treason  doiibly 
damned,  they  struck  for  nothing  less  than  the  absolute  con 
trol  of  the  entire  country,  and  consequent  seizure  of  the 
Capitol  at  Washington,  which  has  already  been  explained 
in  the  preceding  pages  of  this  outline  of  traitors ;  but  the 
day  of  retribution  will  assuredly  arrive,1  and  the  poisoned 
chalice  will  be  returned  to  their  own  lips.  Oh ! 

"  Is  there  not  some  chosen  curse, 
Some  hidden  thunder  in  the  stores  of  Heaven, 
Red  with  uncommon  wrath,  to  blast  the  man 
Who  owes  his  greatness  to  his  country's  ruin  ?" 

During  the  canvass  the  public  mind  was  filled  with  the 
most  frightful  apprehensions,  from  the  studied  misrepresent 
ations  of  the  press  and  public  speakers.  Yet  the  Union 
spirit  of  this  state  remained  firm  and  unshaken,  and  Vir 
ginia  was  carried  by  a  plurality  vote  for  the  man  who  stood 
upon  the  platform  of  "  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the 
Enforcement  of  the  Laws." 


THE   GEEAT   REBELLION.  183 

THE   ELECTION    OF   LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  was  elected  by  a,  plurality  vote  only,  falling  very 
far  short  of  a  majority.  South  Carolina  went  into  ecstasies 
over  the  event ;  the  city  of  Charleston  was  illuminated,  bon 
fires  blazed  in  every  direction ;  the  pretext  was  offered,  the 
time  for  open  rebellion  had  at  last  arrived ;  a  convention 
was  called,  and  an  ordinance  of  secession  was  passed.  The 
property  of  the  United  States  of  every  description  was 
seized,  consisting  of  arsenals,  arms,  ammunition,  revenue 
cutters,  mints,  custom-houses,  post-offices,  with  all  their  con 
tents;  in  short,  whatever  of  government  property  they  could 
reach  was  appropriated.  After  a  severe  struggle,  and  a 
great  deal  of  chicanery  and  false  play,  the  Gulf  or  Cotton 
States  followed  suit  to  South  Carolina,  while  it  is  extreme 
ly  doubtful  whether  there  was  not  a  clear  majority  in  every 
state,  possibly  with  the  exception  of  South  Carolina,  against 
disunion,  if  a  full,  fair,  and  free  vote  could  have  been  taken  ; 
but  every  where  the  more  desperate,  the  reckless,  the  idle, 
the  thoughtless,  the  depraved,  and  the  youthful  portions  of 
the  community,  who  had  every  thing  to  gain  and  nothing 
to  lose  by  commotion,  as  they  imagined,  were  easily  enlist 
ed  in  such  a  cause,  while  by  coarse  denunciation  and  threats 
of  violence  the  sounder  and  more  respectable  portions  of  so 
ciety  were  deterred  from  an  honest  expression  of  opinion. 

During  the  administration  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  had  at 
length  been  stirred  up  by  General  Scott  to  a  sense  of  duty 
to  the  country,  and  long  before  Lincoln  was  inaugurated, 
the  steamer  "  Star  of  the  West,"  sailing  under  the  United 
States  flag,  with  re-enforcements  for  Fort  Sumter,  was  fired 
upon  as  she  attempted  to  enter  into  the  harbor  of  Charles 
ton,  and  was  forced  to  put  back,  she  being  an  unarmed 
commercial  steamer,  selected  specially  that  no  suspicion 


184  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

might  attach  to  the  object  of  her  entrance,  and  that  no  of 
fense  might  be  given  to  this  rebellious  state,  which  was  a 
great  and  inexcusable  error:  re-enforcements  should  have 
been  sent  openly,  and  with  a  force  that  would  have  landed 
there  in  spite  of  all  opposition. 

Shortly  after  South  Carolina  had  assumed  her  position  of 
hostility  to  the  government,  Governor  Letcher  issued  his 
proclamation  calling  the  Legislature  together  in  extraordi 
nary  session,  which  was  composed  of  a  body  of  men  that 
had  been  elected  nearly  two  years  before,  and  did  not,  there 
fore,  come  fresh  from  the  people,  and  consisted  of  a  large 
majority  of  Breckinridge  men,  or  of  the  disunion  party. 
They  made  hot  haste,  without  consulting  the  people,  and 
without  the  slightest  authority  to  call  a  convention,  for  the 
invariable  habit  heretofore  in  Virginia  had  been  first  to  sub 
mit  to  the  people  whether  they  would  have  a  convention 
or  not,  which  was  determined  by  the  vote/or  or  against  it. 
But  no  such  course  was  pursued  here;  all  precedent  wras 
set  aside,  and  the  convention  called.  The  people  acqui 
esced  in  what  they  seemed  to  think  they  had  no  power  to 
control ;  but  still  the  state  held  fast  to  her  moorings,  and 
elected  something  more  than  two  thirds  professed  Union 
men.  But  even  then,  distrustful  either  of  their  wisdom  or 
virtue,  they  voted  by  an  overwhelming  majority  that  noth 
ing  they  might  do  should  have  a  binding  operation  until  it 
was  submitted  to  them  for  ratification  or  rejection. 

THE  "SO-CALLED 

"While  this  Convention  was  in  session, 
efforts  were  made  to  gull  the  people  with  the  belief  that 
they  sought  for  compromise  and  peace,  but  could  not  ob 
tain  it.  I  say  pretended  efforts,  because,  I  repeat,  the  De 
mocracy  never  intended  to  accept  any  compromise  .that  did 


THE    GEEAT   EEBELLIOX.  185 

not  secure  to  them  the  power  of  the  government.  This  is 
a  broad  and  bold  assertion,  and  ought  to  be  established  by 
proof.  Well,  here  it  is : 

1st.  A  Peace  Congress  had  been  proposed  to  be  held  in 
Washington,  to  come,  if  possible,  to  some  terms  of  under 
standing  ;  five  gentlemen  were  appointed  as  delegates  from 
this  state,  to  wit,  Messrs.  William  C.  Rives,  James  A.  Scd- 
don,  George  W.  Summers,  John  Tyler,  and  John  W.  Brock- 
enbrough.  The  Congress  met ;  certain  terms  of  arrange 
ment  were  agreed  upon,  which  were  satisfactory  to  a  ma 
jority  of  those  delegates  or  commissioners,  to  wit,  Mr. 
Rives,  Mr.  Summers,  and  Judge  Brockenbrough,  one  a  Whig, 
one  a  Democrat,  and  the  third  supposed  to  stand  in  about 
as  close  proximity  to  the  one  party  as  to  the  other ;  but 
they  did  not  prove  satisfactory  to  Messrs.  Tyler  and  Seddon, 
of  the  secession  party,  nor  did  they  prove  acceptable  to 
any  one  secessionist  in  the  Convention,  as  far  as  I  have  ever 
learned ;  and  it  surely  may  be  supposed  that  any  proposi 
tion  that  could  have  been  acceptable  to  all  others  than  the 
secessionists  would  have  been  far  better  than  a  resort  to 
civil  war,  even  if  they  had  not  gotten  all  they  had  asked 
for. 

But  as  very  few  of  the  Southern  people  have  had  the  op-f 
portunity  of  knowing  what  terms  were  offered  by  this  Peace 
Congress,  I  incorporate  them  here,  as  indispensable  to  a  ( 
correct  understanding  of  this  question. 

"  ARTICLE  13,  Section  1.  In  all  the  present  territory  of 
the  United  States  north  of  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  of  north 
latitude,  involuntary  servitude,  except  on  punishment  of 
crime,  is  prohibited.  In  all  the  present  territory  south  of 
that  line,  the  status  of  persons  held  to  involuntary  service 
or  labor  as  it  now  exists  shall  not  be  changed ;  nor  shall 
any  law  be  passed  by  Congress  or  the  Territorial  Legisla- 


186  THE   GKEAT   KEBELLIOX. 

ture  to  hinder  or  prevent  the  taking  of  such  persons  from 
any  of  the  states  of  this  Union  to  said  territory,  nor  to  im 
pair  the  rights  arising  from  said  relation,  but  the  same  shall 
be  subject  to  judicial  cognizance  in  the  Federal  courts  ac 
cording  to  the  course  of  the  common  law.  Whenever  any 
territory  north  or  south  of  said  line,  within  such  boundary 
as  Congress  may  subscribe,  shall  contain  a  population  equal 
to  that  required  for  a  member  of  Congress,  it  shall,  if  its 
form  of  government  be  republican,  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states,  with  or 
without  involuntary  servitude,  as  the  Constitution  of  such 
state  may  provide. 

"  Sec.  2.  N"o  territory  shall  be  acquired  by  the  United 
States,  except  by  discovery  and  for  naval  and  commercial 
stations,  depots,  and  transit  routes,  without  the  concurrence 
of  a  majority  of  all  the  senators  from  states  which  allow 
involuntary  servitude,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  senators 
from  states  which  prohibit  that  relation ;  nor  shall  territory 
be  acquired  by  treaty  unless  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the 
senators  from  each  class  of  states  herein  before  mentioned 
be  cast  as  a  part  of  the  two  thirds  majority  necessary  to 
the  ratification  of  such  treaty. 

"  Sec.  3.  Neither  the  Constitution,  nor  any  amendment 
thereof,  shall  be  construed  to  give  Congress  power  to  regu 
late,  abolish,  or  control  within  any  state  the  relation  estab 
lished  or  recognized  by  the  laws  thereof  touching  persons 
held  to  labor  or  involuntary  service  therein,  nor  to  interfere 
with  or  abolish  involuntary  service  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia  without  the  consent  of  Maryland  and  without  the 
consent  of  the  owners,  or  making  the  owners  who  do  not 
consent  just  compensation;  nor  the  power  to  interfere  with 
or  prohibit  representatives  and  others  from  bringing  with 
them  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  retaining  and  taking 


THE   GEEAT   REBELLION.  187 

away  persons  so  held  to  labor  or  service ;  nor  the  power  to 
interfere  with  or  abolish  involuntary  service  in  places  under 
the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  within  those 
states  and  territories  where  the  same  is  established  or  rec 
ognized  ;  nor  the  power  to  prohibit  the  removal  or  trans 
portation  of  persons  held  to  labor  or  involuntary  service  in 
any  state  or  territory  of  the  United  States  to  any  other  state 
or  territory  thereof  where  it  is  established  or  recognized  by 
law  or  usage,  and  the  right,  during  transportation  by  sea  or 
river,  of  touching  at  ports,  shores,  and  landings,  and  of  land 
ing  in  case  of  distress,  shall  exist ;  but  not  the  right  of  trans 
it  in  or  through  any  state  or  territory,  or  of  sale  or  traffic, 
against  the  laws  thereof.  Nor  shall  Congress  have  power 
to  authorize  any  higher  rate  of  taxation  on  persons  held  to 
labor  or  service  than  on  land.  The  bringing  into  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  of  persons  held  to  service  or  labor  for  sale, 
or  placing  them  in  depots  to  be  afterward  transferred  to 
other  places  for  sale  as  merchandise,  is  prohibited. 

"  Sec.  4.  The  third  paragraph  of  the  second  section  of  the 
fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  shall  not  be  construed  to 
prevent  any  of  the  states,  by  appropriate  legislation  and 
through  the  action  of  their  political  and  ministerial  officers, 
from  enforcing  the  delivery  of  fugitives  from  labor  to  the 
person  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is  due. 

"  Sec.  5.  The  foreign  slave-trade  is  hereby  forever  pro 
hibited  ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to  pass  laws 
to  prevent  the  importation  of  slaves,  coolies,  or  persons  held 
to  service  or  labor,  into  the  United  States  and  territories 
from  places  beyond  the  limits  thereof. 

"  Sec.  6.  The  first,  third,  and  fifth  sections,  together  with 
this  section  of  these  amendments,  and  the  third  paragraph 
of  the  second  section  of  the  first  article  of  the  Constitution, 
and  the  third  paragraph  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth 


188  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

article  thereof,  shall  not  be  amended  or  abolished  without 
the  consent  of  all  the  states. 

"  Sec.  tl.  Congress  shall  provide  by  law  that  the  United 
States  shall  pay  to  the  owner  the  full  value  of  his  fugitive 
from  labor  in  all  cases  where  the  marshal  or  other  officer, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  arrest  such  fugitive,  was  prevented 
from  so  doing  by  violence  or  intimidation  from  mobs  or 
riotous  assemblages,  or  when,  after  arrest,  such  fugitive  was 
rescued  by  like  violence  or  intimidation,  and  the  owner 
thereby  deprived  of  the  same,  and  the  acceptance  of  such 
payment  shall  preclude  the  owner  from  farther  claim  to 
such  fugitive.  Congress  shall  provide  by  law  for  securing 
to  the  citizens  of  each  state  the  privileges  and  immunities 
of  citizens  in  the  several  states." 

These  were  the  resolutions  or  recommendations  for 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  adopted  by  the  Peace  Con 
gress,  and  that  were  recommended  for  adoption  to  the  Vir 
ginia  Convention  by  Messrs.  Rives,  Summers,  and  Brocken- 
brough,  but  which  Mr.  Tyler  and  Mr.  Seddon  in  their  re 
port  denounced  as  an  insult  to  the  South,  and  upon  their 
recommendation  they  were  defeated. 

What  there  was  of  offense  to  be  found  in  them  I  have 
been  utterly  unable  to  comprehend;  and  what  more  could 
have  been  expected  by  men  who  preferred  peace  without 
power  to  war  with  power  I  am  unable  to  conjecture;  and 
to  impose  upon  the  people  the  belief  that  the  Peace  Con 
gress  "  refused  all  concessions  to  the  South"  was  simply  a 
delusion  and  a  cheat,  to  call  it  by  no  harsher  name. 

Again,  when  the  question  was  asked  Mr.  Hunter  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  January,  1861,  whether,  if 
the  two  houses  of  Congress  would  adopt  by  constitutional 
majorities  such  amendments  to  the  Constitution  as  would 
be  acceptable  to  the  South,  he  would  exert  his  individual  in- 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  189 

fluence  to  maintain  the  Constitution  and  government  as  it 
was  until  the  states  would  have  time  to  act  upon  them,  Mr. 
Hunter  declined  to  give  any  such  pledge.  If  Mr.  Hunter  was 
for  peace  and  union,  why  would  he  not  give  such  a  pledge  ? 
and  why  profess  to  want  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
for  the  security  of  any  Southern  right,  if  they  were  not  will 
ing  to  afford  time  for  their  adoption  according  to  the  forms 
and  requirements  of  the  Constitution  ? 

THE   CKITTENDEN   COMPROMISE   MEASURES. 

But  again,  Mr.  Crittenden  had  offered  certain  resolutions 
of  compromise  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  which 
Mr.  Bigler,  a  Democratic  senator  from  Pennsylvania,  had 
offered  an  amendment,  and  those  resolutions,  that  were  pro 
claimed  every  where,  at  least  by  all  but  the  extreme  seces 
sionists,  as  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  South,  were  referred 
to  a  committee  of  the  Senate,  of  which  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis 
and  Mr.  Robert  Toombs  were  members.  When  the  vote  \ 
was  taken,  Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Toombs  both  voted  against  • 
them,  when  their  votes  would  have  carried  them,  and  have 
secured  other  Northern  votes  for  them  also,  but  which  were 
not  given,  because  Northern  members  said,  naturally  enough, 
it  was  not  worth  while  for  them  to  make  concessions  to  the 
South  which  Southern  members  rejected  ;  and  yet,  after  they 
had  been  thus  defeated,  before  the  sun  went  down  on  the 
same  day  Mr.  Toombs  telegraphed  to  the  Georgia  Conven 
tion  that  the  North  had  refused  to  give  this  boon  to  the 
South,  and  all  that  was  left  for  the  state  to  do  was  to  go  out 
of  the  Union.  They  took  him  at  his  word  and  went  out. 

Again,  the  whole  subject  of  settling  this  difficulty  was  re-  . 
ferred  by  the  House  of  Representatives  to  a  committee,  of 
which  Hon.  Thomas  Corwin  was  chairman ;  they  adopted 
certain  amendments  to  the  Constitution  which  secured  all 


190  THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

the  rights  of  the  South  ibrever,  .and  to  which  no  Southern 
man  could  reasonably  object;  they  were  brought  up  for 
consideration  in  the  House,  and,  as  far  as  they  were  acted 
upon,  passed  that  body  by  a  vote  of  two  thirds.  Among 
those  acted  on  and  passed  by  two  thirds  was  an  amendment 
forever  prohibiting  Congress  from  legislating  on  the  subject 
of  slavery ;  but  the  impetuosity  of  the  secessionists  was  such 
that  they  would  not  wait  for  the  final  result. 

Again :  here  is  the  testimony  of  the  Richmond  Whig  as 
to  the  true  objects  of  this  resolution ;  and  it  must  not  be 
overlooked  that  that  paper  and  its  editor  had  become  thor 
oughly  indoctrinated  in  the  secession  school,  and  claims  now, 
I  believe,  to  have  been  an  original  secessionist ;  but  wheth 
er  this  is  so  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  no  Democratic  paper  in 
the  South,  from  the  time  the  secessionists  outbid  the  Union 
men  for  its  support,  has  been  more  violent  and  extreme  dur 
ing  the  progress  of  the  war,  as  well  as  in  its  efforts  to  car 
ry  the  state  out  of  the  Union,  than  this  once  honored  and 
honorable  organ  of  the  Whig  and  Union  party. 

THE   RICHMOND   WHIG    ON   RECONSTRUCTION. 

This,  is  what  the  ~Whig  said : 

"Reconstruction. — The  plan  of  ex-Senator  Biglcr,  of  Penn 
sylvania,  for  ending  the  war  consists  of  a  suggestion  that  the 
Legislatures  of  the  Yankee  States  shall  petition  Congress  to 
call  a  convention  for  the  purpose  of '  reconstructing  the  Con 
stitution,'  with  the  view  of  making  it  satisfactory  to  the 
Confederate  States  and  inducing  their  return  to  the  Union. 
Mr.  Bigler  mistakes  the  point  of  the  difficulty.  The  fault 
was  not  in  the  Constitution,  nor  did  the  Southern  States 
withdraw  on  account  of  dissatisfaction  with  that  instru 
ment.  No  alteration  of  it,  even  if  such  alteration  were  left 
altogether  to  themselves,  would  begin  to  satisfy  the  South- 


TIIE    GEEAT   REBELLION.  191 

ern  States.  What  they  object  to,  and  what  they  never  will 
cease  to  object  to,  is  association  with  the  Yankee  race  on 
any  terms.  If  Senator  Bigler  could  '  reconstruct'  the  Yan 
kee  from  head  to  heel,  intus  et  in  cute,  in  mind,  heart,  soul, 
and  body,  so  that  there  would  be  no  atom  or  instinct  of  the 
original  beast  left,  we  might  then  consider  the  question  of 
reunion,  but  even  then  would  probably  determine  that  it  is 
best  for  us  to  be  alone." 

Then,  again,  hear  what  Mr.  Preston  Brooks  said  in  1856. 
Now  I  do  not  pretend  to  introduce  Mr.  Brooks  exactly  in 
the  light  of  a  representative  man  of  his  party  per  se  /  but 
when  his  political  associations  and  connection  with  the  State 
of  South  Carolina  and  all  the  secessionists  in  Washington 
are  considered,  it  may  well  be  conceived  that  he  imprudent 
ly  gave  utterance  to  what  he  well  knew  to  beathe  general 
sentiment  of  the  party. 

He  said,  "  Mr.  Fillmoro  is,  privately,  a  very  respectable 
gentleman.  He  made  a  good  President,  and  I  believe  sin 
cerely  that,  if  elected,  he  would  desert  his  own  party,  and 
make  a  better  President  than  we  think.  But  that  is  the 
very  thing  I  don't  want.  I  am  afraid  he  would  do  so  well 
that  he  would  throw  back  the  prospects  of  disunion." 

Mr.  Brooks  only  expressed  the  sentiment  of  every  man's 
mind  who  was  connected  with  the  leaders  of  the  Calhoun 
wing  of  the  Democracy. 

WHAT   AXDEEW   JOHXSON   SAID. 

But  once  again,  read  the  testimony  of  Governor  Johnson, 
of  Tennessee,  once  a  bright  star  in  the  galaxy  of  Democ 
racy.  In  a  speech  delivered  by  him  in  Nashville  in  the 
spring  of  1862,  he  said, 

"Tariff  was  the  pretext  for  disunion  in  1832,  and  the 
fclavery  or  negro  question  is  the  pretext  now.  How  do  the 


192  THE    GREAT    REBELLION. 

facts  stand  when  we  come  to  examine  them  ?  Let  us  go 
back  to  the  proceedings  of  the  last  Congress. 

"What  was  the  true  phase  of  the  times?  A  compro 
mise,  you  remember — the  Crittenden  proposition — was  in 
troduced.  The  Southern  senators,  including  Toombs,  Ben 
jamin,  Iverson,  and  a  host  of  others,  pretended  that,  if  the 
measure  passed,  the  South  would  be  satisfied ;  but  they  de 
sired  every  thing  else  but  compromise.  Senator  Clark  of 
fered  an  amendment  which  we  believed  would  be  accepta 
ble  to  the  South.  I  had  critically  kept  pace  with  these  pre 
tenders.  Their  protest  was  only  to  disguise  their  real  inten 
tions.  When  the  vote  was  put  on  Clark's  amendment,  mark 
well,  only  fifty-five  ballots  were  recorded.  The  amend 
ment  was  adopted  by  two  votes,  thus  defeating  the  original 
compromise.  Who  is  responsible  for  this  work  of  destruc 
tion  ?  Six  Southern  senators  standing  and  refusing  to  record 
their  votes.  If  the  Crittenden  Compromise  had  been  adopt 
ed,  they  would  have  been  deprived  of  a  pretext  for  their 
treason.  Judah  Benjamin,  a  sneaking  thief  and  perjurer, 
and  an  unconscionable  traitor,  was  seated  near  me  while  the 
vote  was  being  taken.  I  told  him  it  was  his  duty  to  come 
to  the  relief  of  the  country  by  voting  upon  this  important 
proposition.  He  sneeringly  answered  that, c  when  he  want 
ed  my  advice  he  would  make  the  request.'  I  said, '  You  arc 
a  senator,  and  I  demand  that  your  vote  be  recorded.'  With 
six  others,  he  contrived  to  defeat  the  measure  by  slipping 
out.  They  wanted  no  compromise. 

"  This,  then,  has  caused  the  present  difficulties.  These  six 
senators  destroyed  the  compromise,  upon  which  they  based 
revolution.  Let  us  examine  ourselves,  gentlemen,  that  we 
may  arraign  the  guilty  ones  at  the  shrine  of  public  suffering. 
Did  Lincoln  or  the  Republicans  dissolve  the  Union  ?  No  I 
Who,  then,  are  to  blame  ?  Men  who  in  themselves  wore  ca- 


" 

THE    GEEAT   BEBELLIOX.  193 

pable_of  averting  the  storm,  and  yet  cried  there  was  nojhelp 
for  the  South,  no  escape  from  separation. 

"You  know  the  clamor  has  been  raised  that  the  non-slave- 
holding  states  would  amend  the  Constitution  so  as  to  legis 
late  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  On  the  20th  of  December 
South  Carolina  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession,  took  Fort 
Moultrie,  and  the  revolution  commenced.  Soon  after  South 
Carolina  went  out,  seven  other  states  followed.  Their  ar 
gument  was  that  the  Free  States  would  interfere  with  their 
peculiar  institution  by  legislation.  By  the  withdrawal  of 
these  states  the  North  had  over  three  fourths  of  the  votes 
in  Congress,  and,  consequently,  had  the  power  to  legislate. 
Having  the  power,  did  they  so  amend  the  Constitution? 
No,  they  did  not.  They  came  forward  with  an  amendment 
to  the  effect  that  '  Congress,  in  all  future  time,  shall  have  no 
power  to  legislate  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.'  The  amend 
ment  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  two  thirds.  Why  did  you 
not  accept  it  instead  of  being  governed  by  a  petty  tyrant  ?" 

I  could  multiply  and  pile  up  evidence  upon  top  of  evi 
dence  to  an  interminable  extent  to  show  that  no  compro 
mise  was  desired  or  would  have  been  accepted ;  yet  the 
people  have  been  persuaded  to  believe  that  every  expedient 
was  resorted  to  to  obtain  a  peaceable  settlement  of  the  dif- 
cuities _exi_stiiigjjind  that  the  overbearing  power  of  the  North 
had  doggedly  refused  to  listen  to  their  complaints.  And 
when  such  opportunities  as  these  were  presented  for  recon 
ciliation  and  peace,  which  were  not  only  not  accepted,  but 
purposely  and  pertinaciously  smothered  over,  and,  as  far  as 
could  be,  kept  concealed  from  the  people,  what  have  they 
to  say  for^the  price  they  have  had  to  pay  for  the  costly 
cheat  that  has  been  put  upon  them? 


194  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

THE   VIRGINIA   CONVENTION   OF    1861. 

To  come  back  to  the  Virginia  Convention.  They  had 
been  in  session  for  some  two  mouths  without  making;  any 
perceptible  progress  toward  secession,  except  by  a  change 
of  some  few  known  aspirants  for  office,  who  conceived  that 
the  Democratic  craft  was  the  safest  to  take  passage  in ;  and, 
unfortunately,  there  were  too  many  of  that  class  of  small 
politicians  in  the  body,  nearly  every  one  of  whom  have  since 
received  office,  or  have  been  candidates  for  the  Confederate 
Congress  or  of  the  State  Legislature,  major  generals,  briga 
diers,  colonels,  majors,  captains,  commissaries,  quarter-mas 
ters,  or  something  else  that  would  pay  well  and  give  them 
notoriety ;  still  secession  was  at  a  great  discount,  notwith 
standing  the  Convention  was  surrounded  by  a  reckless  and 
unprincipled  public  press,  all  of  which  not  already  in  the 
service  of  the  secessionists  had  become  subsidized,  and  not 
withstanding  every  effort  at  intimidation  was  resorted  to  by 
an  infuriated  mob,  who  assembled  daily  and  offered  person 
al  insult  to  those  members  who  still  expressed  attachment 
to  their  country  and  its  institutions. 

ME.  BOTTS   HAS   AN   INTERVIEW   WITH    MR.  LINCOLN. 

About  this  time  Mr,  Lincoln  sent  a  messenger  to  Rich 
mond,  inviting  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Union  party 
to  come  immediately  to  Washington,  and  if  he  could  not 
come  himself,  to  send  some  other  prominent  Union  man,  as 
he  wanted  to  see  him  on  business  of  the  first  importance. 
The  gentleman  thus  addressed,  Mr.  Summers,  did  not  go, 
but  sent  another,  Mr.  J.  B.  Baldwin,  who  had  distinguished 
himself  by  his  zeal  in  the  Union  cause  during  the  session  of 
the  Convention  ;  but  this  gentleman  was  slow  in  getting  to 
Washington,  and  did  not  reach  there  for  something  like  a 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  195 

week  after  the  time  he  was  expected ;  he  reached  Washing 
ton  on  Friday  the  5th  of  April,  and,  on  calling  on  Mr.  Lin 
coln,  the  following  conversation  in  substance  took  place,  as 
I  learned  from  Mr.  Lincoln  himself.  After  expressing  some 
regret  that  he  had  not  come  sooner,  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "  My 
object  in  desiring  the  presence  of  Mr.  Summers,  or  some 
other  influential  and  leading  member  of  the  Union  party  in 
your  Convention,  was  to  submit  a  proposition  by  which  I 
think  the  peace  of  the  country  can  be  preserved ;  but  I  fear 
you  are  almost  too  late.  However,  I  will  make  it  yet. 

"  This  afternoon,"  said  he,  "  a  fleet  is  to  sail  from  the  har 
bor  of  New  York  for  Charleston  ;  your  Convention  has  been 
in  session  for  nearly  two  months,  and  you  have  done  nothing 
but  hold  and  shake  the  rod  over  my  head.  You  have  just 
taken  a  vote,  by  which  it  appears  you  have  a  majority  of  two 
to  one  against  secession.  Now,  so  great  is  my  desire  to 
preserve  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  to  save  the  Border 
States  to  the  Union,  that  if  you  gentlemen  of  the  Union 
party  will  adjourn  without  passing  an  ordinance  of  seces 
sion,  I  will  telegraph  at  once  to  New  York,  arrest  the  sail 
ing  of  the  fleet,  and  take  the  responsibility  of  EVACUATING 
FORT  SUMTER."  The  proposition  was  declined.  On  the 
following  Sunday  night  I  was  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  alone,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  related 
the  above  facts  to  me.  I  inquired,  "Well,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
what  reply  did  Mr.  Baldwin  make  ?"  "  Oh !"  said  he,  throw 
ing  up  his  hands,  "  he  wouldn't  listen  to  it  at  all ;  scarcely 
treated  me  with  civility;  asked  me  what  I  meant  by  an 
adjournment;  was  it  an  adjournment  { sine  dief"  "Of 
course,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln, "  I  don't  want  you  to  adjourn,  and, 
after  I  have  evacuated  the  fort,  meet  again  to  adopt  an  ordi 
nance  of  secession."  I  then  said,  "Mr.  Lincoln,  will  you 
authorize  me  to  make  that  proposition  ?  for  I  will  start  to- 


196  THE   GREAT   HEBELLIOX. 

morrow  morning,  and  have  a  meeting  of  the  Union  men 
to-morrow  night,  who,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  gladly  accept 
it."  To  which  he  replied,  "It  is  too  late  now;  the  fleet 
sailed  on  Friday  evening."  He  then  said  to  me,  "  Botts, 
I  have  always  been  an  Old-line  Henry-Clay  Whig,  and  if 
your*  Southern  people  will  let  me  alone,  I  will  administer 
this  government  as  nearly  upon  the  principles  that  he  would 
have  administered  it  as  it  is  possible  for  one  man  to  follow 
in  the  path  of  another" — all  of  which  I  believed  then,  and 
believe  now  he  would  have  done.  He  said,  moreover,  "  We 
have  seventy  odd  men  in  Fort  Sumter,  who  are  short  of  pro 
visions.  I  can  not  and  will  not  let  them  suffer  for  food : 
they  have  so  much  beef,  so  much  pork,  potatoes,  etc.,  but 
their  bread  will  not  last  longer  than  next  Wednesday,  and  I 
have  sent  a  special  messenger  to  Governor  Pickens  to  say 
that  I  have  dispatched  a  steamer  loaded  with  c  bread* " 
that  was  his  expression,  though  I  suppose  he  meant  provi 
sions  generally — "  and  that  if  he  fired  upon  that  vessel  he 
would  fire  upon  an  unarmed  vessel,  with  bread  only  for  the 
troops;  and  that  if  he  would  supply  them,  or  let  Major  An 
derson  procure  his  marketing  in  Charleston,  I  would  stop 
the  vessel ;  but  that  I  had  also  sent  a  fleet  along  with  this 
steamer  to  protect  her  if  she  was  fired  into.  What  do  I 
want  with  war  ?"  said  he.  "  I  am  no  war  man ;  I  want 
peace  more  than  any  man  in  this  country,  and  will  make 
greater  sacrifices  to  preserve  it  than  any  other  man  in  the 
nation." 

This  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  this  war  that  is  not  gener 
ally  known ;  I.  think  it  ought  to  be  made  public,  and  there 
fore  I  give  it.  I  have  often  wondered  why  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
not  himself,  in  his  own  justification,  made  it  known  to  the 
country.  I  suppose  it  was  because  he  felt  that  he  had  as 
sumed  a  heavy  responsibility  in  thus  proposing  to  surrender 


THE    GREAT   EEEELLIOX.  197 

a  fort  of  the  United  States,  and  did  not  want  it  known  in 
the  North ;  but  now  a  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  he  had 
gone  so  far,  and  was  ready  to  make  such  a  sacrifice  of  him 
self  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  nation  without  avail,  would 
greatly  strengthen  his  position  in  the  North  as  well  as  in  the 
South. 

When  I  returned  to  Richmond  I  mentioned  this  conversa 
tion  to  several  of  my  friends  in  the  Convention,  among  them 
John  F.  Lewis,  who  not  only  expressed  great  surprise,  but 
doubt  of  the  reality  of  any  such  proposition  having  been 
made  to  the  gentleman  in  question,  and  expressed  the  con 
fident  opinion  that  he  could  not  have  rejected  it  if  made, 
and  it  was  thought  such  a  proposition  would  have  been 
most  gladly  welcomed  by  the  majority  of  the  Convention. 
Mr.  Lewis  then  asked  me  if  he  might  mention  it  to  the  gen 
tleman  to  whom  the  proposition  was  submitted.  I  told  him 
certainly;  that  I  preferred  he  should,  as,  if  his  doubts  were 
well-founded,  I  should  like  to  know  it.  He  did  mention  it, 
and  Mr.  Lincoln's  representation  was  confirmed  by  Mr. 
Baldwin  both  to  Mr.  Lewis  and  myself.* 

*  March,  18GG. — By  the  report  of  the  testimony  taken  before  the  Re 
construction  Committee,  it  appears  that  John  F.  Lewis,  of  Rockingham, 
in  the  course  of  his  testimony  given  on  the  7th  of  February,  referred  to 
this  subject,  and  states  the  proposition  generally ;  but  not  anticipating  a 
denial  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  was  not  as  specific  as  he  would  other 
wise  have  been.  His  language  is,  "While  the  Convention  was  still  in 
session,  I  went  to  the  house  of  John  Minor  Botts  in  Richmond  on  the 
IGth  day  of  April,  1861,  and  he  informed  me  that  he  had  been  to  Wash 
ington  a  few  days  before,  and  had  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln ;  in 
which  interview  Mr.  Lincoln  informed  him  that  he  had  sent  a  special 
messenger  to  Richmond  for  George  W.  Summers  to  come  to  Washington, 
and,  in  the  event  of  his  not  being  able  to  come,  to  send  some  reliable 
Union  man  to  consult  with  him  on  important  matters.  Mr.  Summers, 
from  some  cause  or  other,  did  not  go,  but  sent  Colonel  John  B.  Baldwin, 


198  THE    GREAT   EEBELDIOX. 

In  three  weeks  from  this  time  Mr.  Baldwin  had  accepted 
a  military  commission  in  the  Confederate  service,  and  was 

of  Augusta  County,  Virginia.  Mr.  Lincoln  informed  Mr.  Botts  that  he 
had  made  this  proposition  to  Colonel  Baldwin,  that  if  that  Conven 
tion  would  adjourn  without  passing  an  ordinance  of  secession,  he  (Mr. 
Lincoln)  would  take  the  responsibility  of  withdrawing  the  troops  from 
Fort  Sumter.  Colonel  Baldwin  declined  to  accede  to  it,  and  no  such 
proposition  was  ever  made  or  communicated  to  the  Convention.  Next 
morning  I  took  Colonel  Baldwin  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Botts,  who  told  him 
he  was  informed  that  such  an  interview  had  taken  place.  Colonel  Bald 
win  did  not  deny  it.  In  answer  to  Mr.  Botts's  question  of  how,  in  the 
name  of  God,  he  could  take  the  responsibility  of  withholding  the  knowl 
edge  of  such  an  interview  from  the  Convention,  Colonel  Baldwin  re 
marked  that  it  was  then  near  the  hour  for  the  meeting  of  the  Convention, 
and  that  he  was  compelled  to  be  there,  but  would  see  him  again." 

On  the  10th  of  February  Mr.  Baldwin  was  examined  and  questioned 
by  the  committee  upon  this  point,  when  Mr.  Baldwin  testified  in  the 
most  unqualified  manner  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  never  made  any  such  prop 
osition  to  him  ;  and  upon  the  question  being  put, 

"  Q.  You  received  from  Mr.  Lincoln  no  letter  or  memorandum  in 
writing  ? 

"A.  Nothing  whatever. 

"  Q.  No  pledge  ?     No  understanding  ? 

"A.  No  ;  no  pledge,  no  understanding,  no  offer,  no  promise  of  any  sort.'" 

At  a  subsequent  part  of  the  examination  Mr.  Baldwin  very  materially 
qualified  all  this,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  questions  and  answers 
in  continuation. 

"  Q.  Do  you  possess  a  good  memory  ? 

"A.  My  literal  memory  is  not  good.  I  can  not  say  it  is  peculiarly 
bad ;  but  in  reference  to  results  as  bearing  on  a  line  of  policy  or  argu 
ment  which  I  have  pursued,  I  think  my  memory  is  unusually  good. 

"  Q.  You  are  by  profession  a  counselor  at  law? 

"A.  Yes. 
•     "  Q.  Accustomed  to  listen  to  the  details  of  testimony  ? 

"  A.  I  am,  sir.  My  habit  is  to  take  no  notes  of  testimony  at  all ;  and 
I  habitually  conduct  cases  with  forty  or  fifty  witnesses,  taking  no  minute 
whatever  except  of  the  name  of  the  witness.  My  memory  is  sufficiently 


THE    GKEAT   REBELLION.  199 

soon  after  elected  to  the  Confederate  Congress  (both  of 
which  positions  he  held  to  the  close  of  the  war),  and  soon 

accurate,  and  is  so  recognized  by  my  associates  at  the  bar,  that  when  a 
bill  of  exceptions  in  regard. to  facts  developed  on  the  trial  is  to  be  made, 
they  very  often  call  upon  me  to  write  the  testimony  from  my  memory  in 
preference  to  writing  it  from  such  notes  as  were  taken  by  the  bar. 

' '  Q.  You  recollect  the  substance  and  the  result  ? 

"A.  Yes ;  the  substance  and  the  result. 

"  Q.  Is  it  in  any  degree  likely  that  in  this  narrative  you  are  mistaken 
as  to  any  material  fact  that  transpired  in  the  Convention  ? 

"A.  I  think  not.  I  may  have  omitted  entire  branches  of  what  oc 
curred.  It  may  be  that  entire  subjects  which  I  have  not  mentioned  at 
all  might  be  brought  to  my  mind ;  but  as  to  the  subjects  I  have  touched, 
I  have  as  much  confidence  in  the  recollection  which  I  have  of  them  as  I 
can  have  in  my  recollection  of  any  thing  transpiring  that  far  off.  It  was 
a  subject  of  more  interest  to  me  than  any  thing  that  ever  happened  to 
me  ;  and  when  I  returned,  I  repeated  it  over  and  over  again  to  the  gentle 
men  who  had  concurred  in  sending  me,  and  it  impressed  itself  deeply  on 
my  mind."  (Nothing  could  be  more  explicit,  unequivocal,  and  unquali 
fied  than  this.) 

"  Q.  You  think  you  can  not  be  mistaken  when  you  say  that  Mr.  Lin 
coln  did  not  assure  you  in  any  form  that  it  was  his  purpose  to  withdraw 
the  garrisons  from  Sumter  and  Pickens  at  that  time?"  (Fort  Pickens 
was  not  embraced  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  statement  to  me,  nor  was  it  referred 
to  in  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Lewis.) 

"A.  Of  course  I  would  not  be  willing  to  say,  if  I  heard  that  Mr.  Lin 
coln  had  given  a  different  representation  of  it,  that  it  was  impossible  he 
should  have  done  so.  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
a  man  capable  of  intentional  misrepresentation  in  a  matter  of  that  sort ; 
therefore  I  would  not,  of  course,  undertake  to  say  that  it  was  impossible 
he  could  have  intended  to  convey  that  impression.  If  I  were  certified 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  said  he  intended  to  give  me  that  impression,  I 
should  be  bound  to  concede  it,  although  at  the  same  time  I  should  be 
bound  to  say  that  the  idea  never  occurred  to  me,  and  that  when  I  first 
heard  that  such  an  idea  had  been  suggested,  I  was  as  much  impressed  as 
I  ever  was  in  my  life." 

This  portion  of  the  testimony,  it  seems  to  me,  strangely  contrasts  with 


200  THE    GEEAT   REBELLION. 

became  as  violent  a  disunionist  as  any  to  be  found  in  the 
military  or  civil  service  of  the  Confederacy. 

that  which  just  precedes  it,  but  such  is  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Baldwin  on 
this  point ;  and  as  it  might,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  throw  a  shadow  of 
doubt  on  the  truth  of  the  statement  made  first  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  me,  as 
contained  in  the  text  of  this  volume,  and  next  as  to  the  statement  made 
by  me  to  Mr.  Lewis,  and  subsequently  to  others,  I  feel  it  to  be  impera 
tively  incumbent  upon  me  now  and  here  to  remove  every  shade  of  doubt, 
by  supplying  such  testimony  as  to  the  veracity  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the 
fidelity  of  my  own  representation  of  the  facts,  as  will  arrest  all  pretext  for 
assault  on  the  part  of  the  most  prejudiced  and  vindictive  of  his  assailants 
or  of  mine. 

On  the  loth  of  February  last  I  was  summoned  before  the  committee, 
and  examined  on  this  particular  point  at  some  length.  My  testimony  is 
too  voluminous  to  be  copied  here.  I  can  only  make  a  general  reference 
to  it;  but  it  was  positive,  emphatic,  and  unequivocal;  no  ifs  nor  ands, 
no  equivocation  and  no  qualification  either  as  to  the  statement  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  or  the  acknowledgment  of  Mr.  Baldwin.  As  to  the  truth  of  that 
statement,  see  Reconstruction  Report,  p.  114-117.  What  Mr.  Lewis  and 
myself  have  sworn  to  is  either  true  or  false ;  if  not  true,  then  we  are  both 
perjured  men;  and  the  perjury  has  been  committed  willfully  and  deliber 
ately,  and  we  can  no  longer  claim  the  countenance  or  respect  of  honor 
able  men,  while  it  is  equally  true  that  Mr.  Baldwin  has  either  committed 
perjury,  or  his  "  unusually  good  memory"  has  failed  him  sadly,  and  is  too 
treacherous  and  unreliable  ever  to  be  depended  upon  hereafter.  With 
those  who  know  Mr.  Baldwin  better  than  I  do,  it  will  be  ascribed  to  a  de 
fective  memory,  and  I  have  no  desire  to  raise  an  issue  on  that  point,  but 
I  can  not  permit  my  own  testimony  to  be  questioned  by  any  one. 

1  will  not  say  it  was  any  part  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  calculation,  in  the  event 
of  the  success  of  that  ill-fated  star  in  the  galaxy  of  nations  (the  Confed 
eracy),  to  claim  the  chief  credit  for  Southern  independence,  on  the  ground 
of  his  refusal  to  accept  an  overture  by  which  it  would  have  been  defeat 
ed,  but  it  does  not  require  a  large  amount  of  penetration  to  perceive  that 
this  would  have  been  a  natural  sequitur. 

I  have  the  best  authority  for  saying  that  Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  same 
representation  to  Governor  Pierpont,  General  Millson,  of  Virginia,  Dr. 
Stone,  of  Washington,  Hon.  Garrett  Davis,  Robert  A.  Gray,  of  Rocking- 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  201 

THE   VIRGINIA    "  STATE-EIGHTS"    CONVENTION. 

Previous  to  this,  the  more  extreme  and  violent  portion  of 
the  disorganizes  had  sent  out  a  secret  circular  to  their  se- 

liam  (brother-in-law  to  Mr.  Baldwin),  Campbell  Tarr  of  Wheeling  (and 
Treasurer  of  West  Virginia),  and  three  other  gentlemen  in  company  with 
Mr.  Tarr  (TARR),  in  almost  the  precise  words  testified  to  by  me.  Let 
ters  arc  before  me  to  sustain  this  assertion,  and,  in  every  instance  but  one, 
voluntarily  sent. 

But  all  this  having  occurred  in  April,  1861,  spoken  of  as  it  has  been  in 
social  circles  among  the  best  friends  of  Mr.  Baldwin  at  intervals  through 
out  that  period,  why  is  it  tbat  no  denial  of  its  truth  has  ever  reached  my 
ear  during  the  lifetime  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  during  the  great  struggle  for 
life  by  the  Southern  Confederacy,  whose  ultimate  independence  for  near 
ly  four  years  Mr.  Baldwin  did  not  doubt,  and,  as  he  testifies,  "  expected 
to  be  hanged  if  it  failed  ?" 

But  I  have  said,  when  Mr.  Lewis  gave  his  testimony  he  did  not  be 
lieve  in  the  possibility  of  a  denial  by  authority  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  and  still 
less  that  that  denial  would  be  made  on  oath  by  Mr.  Baldwin  himself,  and, 
therefore,  he  was  less  circumspect  and  minute  than  he  would  otherwise 
have  been.  See,  however,  what  he  now  says  in  a  letter  written  on  the 
7th  of  April,  18G6,  now  before  me. 

He  says,  "You  and  I  know  that  Baldwin  did  acknowledge  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  made  the  proposition  to  withdraw  the  troops  from  Sumtcr  upon 
the  condition  that  the  Virginia  Convention  would  adjourn  without  pass 
ing  an  ordinance  of  secession.  Some  of  the  Secesh  have  been  trying  to 
persuade  me  that  there  was  only  a  mistake  between  Baldwin  and  myself. 
I  have  always  answered,  my  statement  of  the  matter  is  before  the  public. 
I  am  as  certain  of  its  truth  as  I  am  of  my  own  existence.  I  am  not  mis 
taken.  If  my  evidence  is  not  correct,  I  am  a  perjured  man.  I  can  make 
no  compromise." 

Again,  in  a  letter  of  the  14th,  he  says,  "  I  have  seen  the  report  of  your 
evidence,  and  I  think  it  as  nearly  correct  as  it  could  be,  unless  you  had 
written  it  out  at  the  time  the  interview  took  place.  Baldwin  and  myself 
talked  over  the  matter  going  to  and  returning  from  your  house,  and  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  me  at  this  date  to  report  what  was  said  in  your  pres 
ence,  and  what  was  said  in  going  to  and  from  your  house.  That  Bald- 

12 


202  THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION. 

cession  friends  throughout  the  entire  state,  urging  them  all 
to  assemble  in  Richmond  on  the  16th  of  April,  and  not  only 

win  admitted  to  me  before  we  got  to  your  house,  and  to  you  after  our  get 
ting  to  your  house,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  did  propose  to  him  that,  if  the  Con 
vention  would  adjourn  without  passing  an  ordinance  of  secession,  he  would 
withdraw  the  troops  from  Fort  Sumter,  is  as  certain  as  that  the  sun  rose 
this  morning.  I  recollect  the  expression  he  used.  He,  Mr.  Baldwin, 
said  that  Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  proposition,  and  that  he  asked,  'What! 
adjourn  without  a  day?'  (It  was  the  first  time  in  my  life  that  I  had 
heard  the  English  for  sine  die,  and,  though  I  knew  the  general  meaning 
of  the  term,  I  never  knew  the  literal  translation,  and  it  made  an  impres 
sion  that  I  have  never  forgotten.  I  am  not  a  Latin  scholar.)  Baldwin 
said  Lincoln  replied,  '  Certainly.'  Baldwin  then  said  the  Convention 
would  not  entertain  such  a  proposition  for  a  moment.  I  have  talked  with 
Colonel  Gray  (Algernon  S.  Gray,  a  colleague  of  Mr.  Lewis  in  the  Con 
vention,  and  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Baldwin)  several  times  about 
this  during  and  since  the  war.  He  is  not  anxious  to  be  a  witness,  etc. 
Colonel  Gray  and  myself,  as  you  know,  boarded  and  roomed  together. 
The  morning  after  you  informed  me  of  the  interview  between  Baldwin 
and  Mr.  Lincoln  I  commenced  telling  Gray  about  it,  thinking  he  was  as 
ignorant  as  myself,  when,  to  my  utter  astonishment,  he  sprang  up  in  the 
bed  and  asked,  in  the  most  excited  manner, '  How,  in  the  name  of  God,  did 
you  hear  that  ?'  I  remarked  that  it  was  true  such  an  interview  had  taken 
place.  He  replied,  'I  thought  there  were  only  three  men  in  Eichmond 

who  knew  such  an  interview  had  taken  place.' Gray  is  the  only 

member  of  the  Convention  that  I  have  met  with  wrho  acknowledged  that 
he  knew  any  thing  about  the  matter." 

Here,  then,  is  proof  conclusive  on  this  head.  I  need  only  say  that  a 
more  scrupulous,  conscientious,  and  truthful  Christian  gentleman  does  not 
live  than  John  F.  Lewis,  and  that  there  is  not  a  man  in  this  state,  friend 
or  foe,  who  will  say  otherwise ;  and  if  any  Copperhead  at  the  North  or 
traitor  at  the  South  shall  hereafter  charge  that  Abraham  Lincoln  made 
unnecessary  war  upon  the  South,  or  that  he  came  into  office  under  a 
pledge  to  war  upon  Southern  institutions,  his  friends  may  exultingly  point 
to  this  record  for  a  refutation  of  the  slander,  and  to  show  what  great  per 
sonal  sacrifices  that  generous-hearted  and  patriotic  man  was  prepared  to 
make  to  avert  the  heavy  calamities  of  a  civil  war,  and  to  throw  the  re 
sponsibility  where  it  properly  belongs. 


THE    GEE  AT  EEBELLION.  203 

to  bring  every  secessionist  of  their  respective,  but  of  neigh 
boring  counties,  the  object  of  which  was  to  exercise  an  out 
side  influence  by  giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  great  uprising 
of  the  people  of  the  state  from  every  part,  demanding,  in 
their  sovereign  capacity,  the  immediate  passage  of  an  ordi 
nance  of  secession ;  and  if  that  could  not  be  obtained  by 
peaceable  means,  then  to  inaugurate  a  revolution,  the  first 
step  in  which  was  to  depose  the  governor,  who  was  at  that 
time  supposed  to  be  as  strongly  in  favor  of  the  Union  as  he 
now  declares  himself  to  be  inveterate  in  his  hostility  to  it,  to 
turn  the  legitimate  Convention  out  of  doors,  and  establish 
a  provisional  government  of  their  own. 

THE   EEBELLIOX   IXAUGTJEATED. 

Of  all  this,  of  course,  there  is  no  record  proof,  for  the  pur 
pose  was  not  divulged  until  after  the  passage  of  the  ordi 
nance,  when  many  of  the  leaky  vessels  did  not  hesitate  to 
avow  this  to  have  been  the  design,  which  before  had  been 
suspected,  from  the  time  the  secret  circular  first  came  to 
light,  and  from  the  general  tone  and  feeling  manifested  by 
the  party. 

On  Wednesday  night,  the  10th  of  April,  Mr.  Roger  A. 
Pryor,  who  was  supposed  to  have  been  deputed  by  his  co 
adjutors  in  Richmond,  as  otherwise  he  would  scarcely  have 
ventured  to  take  such  a  responsibility  upon  himself,  made  a 
speech  in  Charleston,  in  which  he  gave  the  most  solemn  as 
surance  and  sacred  pledges  that  if  they  would  begin  the  icar 
by  firing  npon  Fort  Sumter,  the  Virginia  Convention  would 
immediately  pass  an  ordinance  of  secession,  notwithstanding 
the  vote  that  had  just  been  taken,  which  stood  45  for  seces 
sion  and  90  against  it.  But  upon  this  assurance  from  Mr. 
Pryor  the  state  determined  to  act ;  they  did  not  wait  for 
the  arrival  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  cargo  of  bread.  The  next  day 


204  THE    GKEAT    REBELLION. 

they  commenced  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  and  an  old 
gray-haired  octogenarian  from  this  state,  who  had  been 
preaching  secession  for  a  number  of  years,  claiming  and 
proclaiming  every  where  that  it  was  his  mission  to  break 
up  the  government  at  Washington  by  dissolving  the  Union, 
was  permitted  the  high  privilege  of  firing  the  first  gun,  but 
who  was  the  first  to  take  to  his  heels  when  the  enemy,  at  a 
subsequent  period,  made  their  appearance  in  his  own  vicin 
ity,  and  has  taken  good  care  never  to  be  near  enough  to 
them  to  fire  a  gun  since. 

This  attack  of  the  llth  resulted  in  the  lowering  of  the  flag 
of  the  United  States.  News  of  the  capitulation  reached 
"Washington  on  the  evening  of  the  13th ;  then,  as  I  hav.e  al 
ready  said,  threats  became  current  and  unconcealed  of  the 
contemplated  attack  on  Washington  by  an  armed  mob  col 
lected  together  from  the  cities  of  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  Washington,  Alexandria,  Richmond,  Norfolk, 
etc.,  which  was  so  confidently  looked  for,  that  before  I  left 
the  city  (where  I  happened  to  be)  on  the  15th,  many  of  the 
windows  of  the  Treasury  building  had  been  already  bar 
ricaded  as  before  mentioned.  The  Secretary  of  War  at 
Montgomery,  as  I  have  also  already  said,  declared  in  a 
speech  on  the  night  of  the  surrender  of  the  fort  that  in 
thirty  days  the  Southern  flag  should  float  over  the  Capitol 
at  Washington ;  and  then  it  was,  and  these  the  circumstan 
ces  under  which  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation  on  the 
15th  of  April  calling  for  seventy-five  thousand  men  for  the 
protection  of  the  Capitol  of  the  nation,  which  afforded  the 
pretext  to  the  Virginia  Convention  to  pass  an  ordinance  de 
claring  the  connection  of  this  state  with  the  government  of 
the  United  States  as  dissolved. 


THE   GEEAT  REBELLION.  205 

PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S   PROCLAMATION  IN   1861. 

I  do  not  question  either  the  propriety  or  the  duty  which 
devolved  on  Mr.  Lincoln  for  making  a  call  for  troops  under 
the  circumstances  that  existed  and  that  were  patent  to  all 
men's  minds.  Whether  it  was  for  the  protection  of  the 
Capitol,  or  for  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  in  the  revolted 
states,  or  for  the  recovery  of  the  property,  which,  if  taken 
by  individuals,  would  have  constituted  a  felony — and  yet  I 
consider  that  proclamation  in  many  respects  as  the  most 
unfortunate  state  paper  that  ever  issued  from  any  Execu 
tive  since  the  establishment  of  the  government.  It  was  un 
fortunate  in  this :  first,  that  while  it  was  manifest  to  any 
reflecting  man  that  Mr.  Lincoln  could  not  have  called  for 
so  small  a  body  of  troops  with  any  calculation  of  overrun 
ning  or  subduing  the  seven  states  that  had  already  virtually 
declared  war  against  the  government,  yet  it  failed  to  state 
what  was  the  object  of  the  call,  and  thereby  it  was  left  in 
the  power  of  the  demagogues  with  which  the  land  was 
filled  to  make  any  and  every  misrepresentation  of  its  pur 
pose  that  was  best  adapted  to  excite  the  apprehensions  and 
resentment  of  the  South.  General  Jackson  under  similar 
circumstances,  in  the  height  of  his  popularity  and  power, 
did  not  venture  to  take  the  step  he  did  without  an  address 
and  an  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the  people  to  stand  by 
and  sustain  him  in  a  determination  to  save  the  Union  from 
the  hands  of  traitors  who  aimed  at  its  destruction.  How 
much  more  important,  then,  was  it  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  against 
whom  such  a  storm  of  prejudice  had  been  raised  as  to  his 
purpose  of  striking  a  deadly  blow  at  the  institutions  of  the 
South,  should  have  declared  his  views  on  this  subject  in  the 
most  distinct  and  emphatic  form !  when  he  would  have 
kept  himself  beyond  the  reach  of  the  demagogues  and  de- 


206  THE   GREAT   REBELLION. 

famers,  and  retained  the  support  of  the  Union  party  of  the 
South,  who  seemed  to  be  all  paralyzed  by  this  single  clash  of 
his  pen.  It  is  not  saying  too  much,  I  think,  when  I  say  such 
was  the  state  of  excitement  and  enthusiasm  for  war  that  was 
aroused  among  the  citizens  of  Richmond,  that  I  was  per 
haps  the  only  one  who  raised  his  voice  above  a  whisper 
against  the  ordinance  at  that  moment.  Again,  it  was  un 
fortunate  in  this,  that,  if  it  only  could  have  been  postponed 
for  three  days,  this  commonwealth  would  have  been  in  a 
state  of  revolution  from  the  causes  I  have  just  recited,  but 
it  came  just  in  the  very  nick  of  time  to  save  the  disorgan- 
izers  the  task  of  a  revolutionary  movement. 

Three  days  later,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  might  have  received  a 
call  from  the  executive  of  this  state  for  the  aid  of  the  gen 
eral  government  to  sustain  the  lawful  authorities  of  Vir 
ginia,  when  all  the  other  powers  under  the  sun  could  not 
have  driven  Virginia  or  the  other  Border  States  into  a  par 
ticipation  with  the  Cotton  States. 

When  that  proclamation  reached  Richmond  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  15th,  the  city  was  crammed  with  secessionists 
from  all  parts  of  the  state,  in  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  se 
cret  circular.  I  came  down  myself  on  the  same  day  from 
Washington,  and  I  had  scarcely  set  my  foot  upon  the  thresh- 
hold  of  my  own  door  before  I  was  visited  by  friends  who 
admonished  me  that  I  had  better  not  go  upon  the  street ; 
that  the  whole  city  was  in  a  blaze  of  excitement,  and  it 
would  be  dangerous  for  me,  with  my  well-known  opinions 
and  devotion  to  the  Union,  to  be  seen  in  public.  I  ridiculed 
the  idea  and  spurned  the  suggestion,  hastened  to  get  my 
dinner,  and  walked  down  to  the  governor's  house,  where 
I  found  a  room  crowded  with  members  of  the  Convention 
of  both  parties  ;  they  were  all  in  a  high  state  of  excitement, 
governor  and  all.  To  reason  with  them  would  be  like  dart- 


THE   GKEAT   KEBELLION.  207 

ing  straws  against  the  wind.  I  soon  found  that  my  pres 
ence  was  not  agreeable  to  the  gentlemen  assembled,  and 
if  they  had  not  left  I  should ;  but  they  did  not  give  me  the 
opportunity ;  for  soon  after  my  arrival,  and  upon  the  utter 
ance  of  the  first  sentiment  I  expressed  upon  the  subject, 
they  began,  one  by  one,  to  leave  the  room,  until  the  gov 
ernor  and  myself  were  left  alone.  I  found  all  reason  in  vain, 
and  I  did  not  remain  long,  but  extended  my  walk  through 
Capitol  Square  and  down  Main  Street  to  ascertain  the  ex 
tent  of  my  danger,  as  predicted  by  my  friends.  Many 
looked  askance,  some  seemed  to  avoid  me,  but  none  ven 
tured  to  oifer  me  offense.  I  never  felt  more  proud  or  step 
ped  more  boldly,  for  I  felt  the  most  comfortable  and  con 
fiding  assurance  that  I  was  in  the  right.  I  felt  that  I  was 
in  the  midst  of  a  despicable  set  of  traitors  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  timid,  misguided  men,  who  had  suffered  their  fears, 
in  some  instances,  their  prejudices  and  their  passions,  in 
others,  to  get  the  better  of  their  judgments.  I  walked 
home  proudly  and  defiantly ;  but  when  safely  pillowed  un 
der  my  own  roof,  my  pride  and  defiant  spirit  both  forsook 
me,  and  I  involuntarily  burst  into  tears  over  what  I  too 
clearly  saw  —  the  calamities  that  were  in  store  for  my 
country. 

There  has  been  no  one  act  of  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  perhaps,  that  has  been  more  severely  censured  and 
condemned  throughout  the  South  as  a  high-handed  usurpa 
tion  of  power  and  disregard  of  all  constitutional  and  legal 
authority,  than  the  call  of  seventy-five  thousand  troops  by 
his  proclamation  of  April  15,1861.  It  was  commented  upon 
by  the  press  and  talked  of  by  the  leading  secessionists,  until 
the  belief  became  universal  in  the  South  that  the  war  was 
by  this  means  designedly  made  upon  the  South  without  the 
sanction  of  law ;  while  in  truth  there  was  no  one  act  of  his 


208  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

administration  more  thoroughly  sustained  by  lawful  author 
ity  or  made  more  imperative  upon  him. 

The  authority  is  to  be  found  in  the  first  volume  of  the 
"Laws  of  the  United  States"  of  1795,  and  date  of  February 
28.  In  chapter  xxxvi.,  section  ii.,  page  424,  it  reads :  "And 
be  it  farther  enacted,  That  whenever  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  opposed,  or  the  execution  thereof  obstructed 
in  any  state  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed 
by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,  or  by  the 
powers  vested  in  the  marshals  by  this  act,  it  shall  be  lawful 
for  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  call  for  the  militia 
of  such  state,  or  any  other  state  or  states,  as  may  be  neces 
sary  to  suppress  such  combinations,  to  cause  the  laws  to  le 
duly  executed.  And  the  use  of  the  militia  so  to  be  called 
forth  may  be  continued,  if  necessary,  until  the  expiration  of 
thirty  days  after  the  commencement  of  the  next  session  of 
Congress."  And  again,  by  the  Act  of  March  3, 1807,  which 
declares,  "  That  in  all  cases  of  insurrection  or  obstruction 
to  the  laws,  either  of  the  United  States  or  of  any  individual 
state  or  territory,  where  it  is  lawful  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  call  forth  the  militia  for  the  purpose  of 
suppressing  such  insurrection  or  causing  the  laws  to  be  ex 
ecuted,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  him  to  employ  for  the  same 
purpose  such  part  of  the  land  or  naval  force  of  the  United 
States  as  shall  be  judged  necessary,  having  first  observed 
all  the  prerequisites  of  the  law  in  that  respect." 

THE    ORDINANCE    OF   SECESSION   PASSED   IN   VIRGINIA. 

The  balance  of  the  story  is  soon  told.  On  the  next  day 
(the  16th)  the  outside  Convention  of  secessionists  met  in  full 
force  and  in  secret  session,  clamorous  and  riotous  for  an  or 
dinance  of  secession.  The  legitimate  Convention  sat  with 
closed  doors,  and  proceeded  to  enforce  an  obligation  of  the 


THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION.  209 

strictest  secrecy  on  every  member  of  the  body  as  to  their 
future  proceedings — one  and  the  main  object  of  which  was 
to  keep  the  people  in  the  dark  as  to  the  extent  of  the  oppo 
sition  still  existing  in  this  body  to  a  rupture  with  the  gen 
eral  government,  and  also  to  enable  them  to  possess  them 
selves  of  government  property  before  it  could  be  known  in 
Washington  what  they  intended.  On  the  17th,  the  ordi 
nance  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  88  to  55,  but  was,  until  the 
injunction  of  secrecy  was  removed,  generally  believed  to 
have  been  almost,  if  not  quite  unanimous.  Then  followed 
the  seizure  of  the  Custom-house  and  Post-office  in  Rich 
mond,  the  seizure  of  Gosport  Navy-yard  and  Harper's  Fer 
ry,  with  all  the  munitions  of  war  they  contained,  the  sink 
ing  of  vessels  in  the  channel  of  Elizabeth  River  to  prevent 
the  escape  of  such  war-steamers  as  were  then  in  the  harbor 
of  Norfolk. 

Thus  was  this  state  not  only  declared  to  be  out  of  the 
Union,  but  actually  plunged  into  active  hostility  against  the 
United  States  by  a  Convention  whose  powers  were  ex 
pressly  limited  by  a  vote  of  the  people  to  a  recommenda 
tion  only  of  what  should  be  done. 

THE   ILLEGAL   STATE   ACTION  OF   THE   CONVENTION. 

But  this  was  not  all.  On  the  25th  of  April,  without 
waiting  for  the  ratification  of  the  ordinance,  the  Convention 
adopted  the  constitution  of  the  Confederate  government  as 
their  Constitution,  and  negotiated  a  treaty  with  Mr.  Ste 
phens,  who  had  been  sent  on  as  commissioner  for  that  pur 
pose,  by  which  the  whole  power  of  the  state  was  transferred 
to  the  Confederate  government  at  Montgomery,  introduced 
large  bodies  of  troops  from  other  states  into  Virginia,  to 
overawe  and  control  the  elections,  and  having  converted^ 
the  peaceful  homes  of  Eastern  Virginia  into  one  grand  mil- 


210  THE   GKEAT   REBELLION. 

itary  encampment,  with  an  effrontery  unparalleled,  they 
turned  to  the  people  whose  confidence  they  had  thus  abused 
and  betrayed,  and  said,  "  Now  you  can  vote  for  secession 
or  against  it,  as  you  choose,  but  ice  advise  you  to  vote  for  the 
Emperor"  as  was  said  in  France  when  Louis  Napoleon  was 
voted  an  imperial  diadem.  And  such  was  the  system  of 
intimidation  resorted  to,  that  in  the  city  of  Richmond, 
which  would  have  cast  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand 
votes  against  it  if  it  had  been  understood  that  men  were 
free  to  Vote  without  interruption  or  annoyance,  only  two 
such  votes  were  recorded,  one  of  which  was  by  Mr.  John 
H.  Anderson.  And  here  let  me  inquire  what  is  the  status 
of  Virginia  at  this  time?  Is  she  a  member  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy  or  not  ?  For  all  present  practical  purposes 
she  is,  but  for  the  future,  in  fact  and  in  law,  she  is  not.  Be 
it  remembered  that  the  Virginia  Convention  was  one  of  lim 
ited  powers,  and  that  a  limitation,  not  by  construction,  but 
by  the  express  vote  of  the  people,  who  declared  by  a  major 
ity  of  fifty-six  thousand  that  nothing  the  Convention  might 
do  touching  the  organic  law  of  the  land  should  have  the 
force  of  law  until  submitted  to  them  for  ratification  or  re 
jection.  The  Ordinance  of  Secession  has  been  submitted 
and  ratified,  but  has  the  annexation  of  the  state  and  the 
adoption  of  the  Southern  Constitution  been  submitted  ? 
Never ;  and,  without  such  submission  and  ratification,  the 
Convention  was  as  powerless  to  transfer  the  state  to  Mr. 
Jeff.  Davis  and  Company,  and  to  adopt  a  Confederate  Con 
stitution  for  the  people,  as  any  other  body  of  men  collect 
ed  together  in  the  state.  So  far  from  having  given  her 
consent  to  this  transfer,  when  the  amendments  adopted  by 
the  same  Convention  to  the  State  Constitution  were  sub 
mitted,  which  amendments  ignored  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  recognized  the  Confederate  Constitution, 


THE   GREAT   REBELLION.  211 

the  people  rejected  them,  so  that  Virginia  is  now  in  a  con 
dition  of  revolution,  and  in  alliance  with  the  Confederate 
government  so  long  as  the  war  may  last,  but  at  its  termina 
tion  is  entirely  free  of  all  connection  with  them,  if  their  inde 
pendence  shall  be  established,  in  which  event  she  will  legal 
ly  be  standing  alone,  free  to  form  whatever  future  associa 
tions  she  may  think  fit. 

THE   RATIFICATION   OF   THE   ORDINANCE    OF    SECESSION. 

But  to  return.  My  own  case  will  illustrate  the  condition 
of  things  in  Richmond.  I  had  resolved  to  cast  my  vote 
against  the  ordinance  if  it  were  the  last  I  should  ever  be 
permitted  to  give.  For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  had 
armed  myself  to  repel  any  rudeness  or  indecorum  that 
might  be  exhibited  toward  me.  When  a  number  of  my 
friends  appealed  to  me  in  the  most  forcible  manner  not  to 
go  to  the  polls,  that  they  did  not  believe  it  would  be  safe 
for  me  to  do  so,  I  replied  that,  let  the  danger  be  what  it 
might,  I  was  resolved  to  vote,  and  that  I  would  not  hesitate 
to  shoot  down  any  man  who  might  dare  to  show  me  indig 
nity,  they  said,  if  I  did  vote  they  would  stand  by  me,  as 
my  friends  generally  would,  but  it  would  probably  involve 
the  whole  city  in  a  scene  of  bloodshed  ever  to  be  deplored. 
I  finally  suffered  myself  to  be  dissuaded  from  exercising  my 
right  as  a  citizen  of  Virginia,  which  I  have  regretted  and 
been  ashamed  of  to  this  day.  The  truth  is,  the  vote  through 
out  the  state,  with  the  exception  of  some  few  counties  bor 
dering  on  the  Potomac  and  in  the  northwest,  was  a  perfect 
farce.  Thousands  voted  for  it  who  were  as  much  opposed 
to  it  at  heart  as  I  was,  through  fear  of  the  consequences ; 
tens  of  thousands  did  not  vote  at  all,  while  others,  again, 
very  naturally  inquired,  what  is  the  use  of  voting  against 
it,  when  we  are  in  actual  war,  and  can  not  get  out  of  it  by 


212  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

any  vote  we  can  give?  That  there  was  a  large  majority 
of  the  votes  polled  in  favor  of  the  ordinance,  I  suppose  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  but  that  is  all  we  have  been  permitted  to 
know  about  it ;  what  proportion  of  the  vote  of  the  state 
was  given,  and  what  withheld,  is  known  only  to  those  who 
have  chosen  to  keep  it  to  themselves.*  I  do  not  suspect 
the  authorities  here  of  having  done  quite  as  bad  as  they 
did  in  Louisiana,  where  the  vote  was  actually  falsified,  and 
declared  to  have  been  in  favor  of  the  ordinance,  while,  in 
truth,  as  was  afterward  ascertained,  it  was  against  it ;  but 
still,  the  studied  concealment  shows  there  was  something 
wrong  about  it  that  the  authorities  did  not  care  to  have 

*  March,  1866.— I  find,  by  reference  to  MTherson's  History  of  the  Re 
bellion,  the  vote  is  reported  as  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eighty-four  for  secession,  and  thirty-two  thousand  one 
hundred  and  thirty-four  against  it,  making  an  aggregate  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty-one  thousand  and  eighteen  ;  but  where  this  vote  came  from,  ex 
cept  from  the  army  that  had  been  introduced  into  the  state,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  tell.  The  largest  vote  ever  given  in  Virginia  was  in  the  Pres 
idential  election  in  1860,  when  there  were  four  candidates,  and  then  one 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  thousand  four  hundred  and  three  votes  were 
polled,  while  the  vote  on  secession  was  very  generally  looked  upon  as  a 
farce ;  and  it  would  not  be  hazardous  to  say  that  there  were  from  seventy- 
five  to  one  hundred  thousand  votes  in  the  state  not  given.  I  recollect 
very  well  that  for  a  few  days  the  vote  was  published  as  it  came  in ;  and 
from  a  small  number  of  counties  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  state 
bordering  on  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  where  the  vote  was  more  nu 
merous  than  in  any  other  part,  the  vote  fell  short  from  six  to  ten  thou 
sand  ;  while  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  that  could  have  given  some  fifteen 
hundred  against  secession,  only  two  votes  were  given  against  the  ordi 
nance  ;  and  in  Norfolk,  where  large  bodies  of  troops  were  stationed,  one 
regiment,  commanded  by  the  then  Colonel  Roger  A.  Pryor,  was  said  to 
have  been  dismissed  from  the  service  because  it  was  found  they  were  vot 
ing  against  the  ordinance.  What  a  contemptible  farce  on  free  suffrage 
it  was ! 


TUE   GREAT  REBELLION.  213 

disclosed.  If  any  one  outside  of  the  official  circles  has  ever 
been  able  to  ascertain  the  vote,  I  have  been  so  unfortunate 
as  never  to  have  found  him. 

And  now,  if  another  outrage  so  flagitious  has  eVer  been 
practiced  upon  a  people  claiming  or  professing  to  be  free, 
if  another  instance  of  such  gross  abuse  of  power  can  be  pre 
sented,  or  that  has  been  so  tamely  and  weakly  submitted  to, 
I  would  be  thankful  to  have  it  pointed  out,  for  there  is  noth 
ing  within  my  knowledge  that  will  stand  in  comparison 
with  it. 

ME.  BOTTS'S   EFFORTS   TO   PREVENT   CIVIL   WAE. 

Finding  that  the  labor  of  my  life  had  been  spent  in  vain, 
and  that  the  South  had  been  plunged  into  hopeless  and  in 
extricable  ruin  unless  the  hostilities  between  the  parties 
could  be  speedily  checked,  and  believing  it  would  terminate 
in  one  of  the  most  bloody  and  ferocious  contests  that  his 
tory  had  recorded,  I  immediately  set  to  work  in  an  earnest 
endeavor  to  bring  about  a  peaceful  solution  of  this  difficulty. 
I  at  once  opened  a  correspondence  with  the  Attorney  Gen 
eral  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Bates,  urging  him,  with  all 
the  force  and  persuasion  I  could  command,  to  exert  his  in 
fluence  with  Mr.  Lincoln  to  recommend  at  once  the  call  of 
a  national  convention  to  amend  the  Constitution,  so  as  to 
give  to  those  states  that  did  not  want  to  remain  in  the  Union 
leave  to  withdraw.  I  would  not  have  had  the  general  gov 
ernment,  under  any  condition  of  circumstances  that  could 
have  arisen,  to  recognize  the  right  of  secession,  because  that 
would  at  once  have  annihilated  all  hope  of  ever  establishing 
another  permanent,  enduring  government  on  this  continent 
again,  but  to  give  them  leave  to  withdraw,  and  thereby  save 
all  the  Border  States,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Arkan 
sas,  Missouri,  and  North  Carolina  to  the  old  government, 


214  THE    GREAT    EEBELLIOX. 

and  confining  the  withdrawal  to  the  Cotton  States,  which 
states  had  produced  all  the  mischief;  and  then,  if  there  was 
to  be  a  war  growing  out  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
River  or"  any  other  cause,  it  would  have  been  a  foreign  and 
not  a  civil  Avar,  in  which  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
any  Border  State  to  have  participated  with  the  Gulf  or  for 
eign  States  without  a  confession  of  treason ;  and  if  they  did 
not  speedily  repent  of  their  folly,  and  seek  admission  into 
the  Union,  then  to  administer  a  little  of  their  favorite  medi 
cine  in  the  form  of  a  pill  from  the  "  Ostend  Manifesto"  or  a 
bolus  taken  from  the  Monroe  doctrine. 

But  this  proposition  gave  satisfaction  to  neither  party ;  it 
led  to  quite  an  angry  correspondence  with  Mr.  Bates ;  and 
the  Southern  extremists  were  extreme  in  their  denunciation 
of  the  suggestions,  because  in  my  first  letter  (which  at  the 
earnest  entreaty  of  some  of  my  friends  I  permitted  to  be 
published)  I  admitted  the  superiority  of  the  Federal  gov 
ernment  in  all  the  appliances  of  war,  which  they  were  by 
no  means  prepared  to  concede ;  and  some  of  their  papers 
were  silly  enough  to  charge  me  with  giving  information 
to  the  United  States  government  of  its  own  power  and 
strength,  as  if  I  was  not  indebted  to  the  statistics  furnished 
by  them  for  all  the  information  I  had  on  the  subject,  and 
under  this  ridiculous  accusation  a  vast  deal  of  violent  ex 
citement  was  created  against  me.  As  a  mere  sample  of  the 
feeling  existing,  I  select  one  extract  from  the  Richmond 
Whig  published  about  that  time ;  and  from  this  miserable 
specimen  of  bad  taste  and  worse  judgment,  of  weak,  absurd, 
and  childish  braggadocio,  may  be  inferred  the  general  feel 
ing  that  pervaded  all  classes  at  that  day,  for  this  bombast 
was  regarded  as  an  unmistakable  indication  of  true  manli 
ness  and  elevated  patriotism. 

"The  vaunts  and  threats  of  the  Yankees  to  invade  and 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  215 

subjugate  us  have  been  widely  proclaimed,  and  are  known 
to  all  the  world.  Tliey  can  not  eat  their  words  without 
adding  a  new  infamy  to  the  Yankee  name.  They  are  al 
ready  justly  reputed  to  be  bigoted,  Puritanic,  hypocritical, 
penurious,  envious,  and  cross-grained,  but  we  were  willing 
to  accord  them  a  vulgar  brute  courage.  They  will  lose  this 
if  they  don't  fight.  But  fight  they  must,  for  the  credit  of 
the  American  name.  They  have  blustered  and  bullied  too 
much  to  be  permitted  to  beat  a  retreat  now.  They  have  a 
Virginia  general  to  plan  their  campaigns  and  marshal  their 
forces,  and,  if  they  let  him  alone,  he  will  lead  them  where 
they  will  be  peppered ;  but  they  must  not  raise  the  cry  of 
treachery  against  him  by  way  of  pretext  for  dodging  the 
fight.  We  tell  them  frankly  and  candidly  they  must  fight, 
they  shall  fight ;  there  is  no  other  escape  from  unutterable 
shame." 

This  was  the  feeling  that  existed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war;  how  sadly  this  tune  will  be  changed,  and  how  they 
will  sue  and  pray  for  peace  before  it  ends,  you  and  I  may 
live  to  see. 

But  as  another  specimen  of  the  madness  of  the  hour,  and 
to  show  what  desperate  and  despicable  means  were  resorted 
to  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  gag  on  all  men's  mouths, 
I  select  one  from  the  Richmond  Dispatch  at  that  time : 

"  Tories  and  Traitors. — We  have  heard,  though  we  can 
scarcely  credit  the  statement,  that  there  are  men  in  some 
parts  of  Virginia  who  are  endeavoring  to  paralyze  the  war 
spirit  of  the  state  by  circulating  slanders  as  infamous  as 
that  gotten  up  at  the  beginning  of  the  troubles  about  the 
$16  tax  on  Carolina  negroes.  Among  other  things,  they 
recklessly  assert  that  there  was  no  fleet  sent  to  Charleston 
for  the  purpose  of  re-enforcing  Fort  Sumter,  and  that  there 
fore  the  attack  upon  that  fort  was  wholly  unnecessary. 


216  TIIE    GREAT    REBELLION. 

This  is  an  infamous  lie,  known  to  be  such  by  the  immeasur 
able  villains  who  concoct  it.  In  the  North  every  man  is 
put  in  peril  of  his  life  icho  does  not  sustain  their  murderous 
onslaught  upon  the  South.  The  South  can  scarcely  afford 
to  be  more  merciful  to  tories  and  traitors  in  her  own  bor 
ders.  Give  all  such  wretches  fair  warning  before  executing 
upon  them  the  justice  they  deserve;  convince  them  that 
they  are  in  more  peril  by  being  traitors  than  by  being  hon 
est  men,  and,  our  word  for  it,  they  will  learn  in  a  short  time 
discretion,  the  only  virtue  of  which  their  base  nature  is  ca 
pable." 

The  above  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  more  enlarged 
freedom  for  which  this  war  was  professedly  inaugurated. 
But  enough  of  this  sickening  recital. 

ME.  BOTTS    RETIRES   FROM   THE   CONTEST   IN   DESPAIR. 

Finding  that  I  was  powerless  to  prevent  my  own  state 
from  throwing  herself  into  the  arms  of  her  destroyers,  I 
quietly  retired  to  the  country,  with  a  firm  determination  to 
stand  aside  and  take  no  part  in  a  war  that  the  people  had 
no  agency  in  making,  and  which,  let  it  result  as  it  might, 
was  assuredly  to  end  in  their  absolute  ruin,  but  to  leave 
it  altogether  to  those  who  had  brought  it  on,  or  approved 
it,  to  conduct  it  to  an  issue. 

I  certainly  knew  full  well  that  my  own  .prospects  in  life 
might  have  been  greatly  advanced,  at  least  for  the  moment, 
if  I  had  followed  the  fashion  and  taken  service  in  the  cause 
of  those  whom  I  had  all  my  life  opposed ;  but  if  I  had  been 
capable  of  adopting  for  myself,  or  of  recommending  to 
others  the  adoption  of  a  policy  of  such  unutterable  wrong, 
perfidy,  and  treason  as'in  my  inmost  heart  I  felt  this  to  be, 
and  with  such  results  as  I  believed  and  knew  would  follow, 
it  would  have  been  only  from  motives  of  selfishness,  am- 


THE   GREAT  BEBELLION.  217 

bition,  or  fear,  for  which  I  should  have  scorned  and  despised 
myself  in  all  future  life. 


When  I  voted  for  "honest  John  Bell"  as  they  called  him, 
and  the  platform  of  "  The  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the 
Enforcement  of  the  Laics"  which  implied  nothing,  unless  we 
who  voted  for  it  meant  thereby  to  declare  to  the  world  our 
unalterable  devotion  to  the  Union,  our  veneration  for  the 
Constitution,  and  our  firm  determination  to  uphold  and  sus 
tain  the  Executive  authority  of  the  Federal  government  in 
enforcing  the  laws  fully,  faithfully,  and  impartially,  every 
where  and  upon  all  alike,  upon  which  pledge  alone  this 
state  was  carried  for  "John  Bell;"  for  the  people  of  Vir 
ginia  cared  no  more  for  "John  Bell"  except  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  a  principle,  than  they  did  for  "John  Doe"  or 
"  Richard  Roe"  and  which  platform  of  principles  "  honest 
John  Bell"  not  only  accepted  but  sought  to  stand  upon, 
but  which  he  kicked  from  under  him  as  soon  as  he  found  it 
would  not  conduct  him  to  station,  power,  and  emolument, 
and  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  the  extent  of  his  power  to 
those  whom  he  had  just  previously  denounced  as  traitors 
and  enemies  to  mankind,  and  who  had  also  just  before  de 
nounced  him  as  a  most  selfish  and  corrupt  Abolitionist, 
from  which  charges  I  had  often  defended  him,  I  say  when 
I  voted  for  that  platform  I  was  too  intensely  honest  and  in 
earnest  to  permit  myself  to  take  a  step  in  the  opposite 
direction,  and  take  up  arms  against  the  government  for  an 
honest  effort  to  carry  out  the  principles  we  ourselves  had 
not  only  laid  down  for  him,  but  required  at  the  hands  of 
our  own  candidate  only  at  the  dictation  of  the  most  reckless 
and  corrupt  portion  of  Democracy.  How  others  brought 
their  minds  to  do  it  may  not  be  for  me  to  know,  or,  know- 

K 


218  THE    GEEAT   EEBELLION. 

ing,  it  may  not  be  for  me  to  say ;  but  for  myself  I  can  and 
do  say,  that  as  an  honest,  conscientious,  virtuous  man,  J 
could  not  do  it,  even  if  my  life  had  paid  the  penalty ;  and  I 
am  even  free  to  say  that,  so  far  did  I  feel  myself  committed 
to  this  great  and  overpowering  principle,  that  if  Virginia 
had  not  so  foolishly  thrown  herself  into  the  contest,  then 
any  service  that  I  could  have  rendered  to  the  Federal  gov 
ernment  wrould  have  been  at  its  disposal  for  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  law  in  any  state  North  or  South,  East  or  West, 
that  was  in  open  rebellion  against  its  authority,  while  no 
position  under  the.  government  would  at  any  time  have  been 
desirable  or  acceptable  for  a  less  patriotic  purpose;  and  I 
am  by  no  means  satisfied,  and  never  have  been,  that  the 
position  Virginia  had  chosen,  or  been  compelled  to  assume, 
relieved  me  of  the  obligation  of  a  superior  duty  to  the 
United  States  government ;  but  in  this  matter  alone  have  I 
allowed  my  feelings  to  control  my  judgment. 

THE   SOUTH   NO    CAUSE   FOR   COMPLAINT. 

It  may  well  be  asked  here,  what  complaint  has  the  South 
to  prefer  against  the  government  of  the  United  States? 
There  has  not  been  a  moment  of  time  from  the  4th  of 
March,  1801,  to  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  that  the  legislation 
or  law-making  power  of  the  government  has  not  been  under 
the  control  of  the  Southern  Democracy.  During  that  period 
there  have  been  but  eight  out  of  the  sixty  years  that  the 
Federal  Executive  has  not  been  of  their  own  selection  (ex 
cept  once,  when  we  elected,  and  they  seduced  or  bought  our 
man  up,  and  then  refused  to  pay  the  stipulated  wages) ; 
and  during  those  eight  years  (I  mean,  of  course,  during  the 
administrations  of  Mr.  Adams,  General  Taylor,  and  Mr.  Fill- 
more)  they  had  the  absolute  and  entire  control  of  one  or 
both  of  the  two  houses  of  Congress.  What  subject  of 


THE    GEEAT   REBELLION.  219 

legislation  is  it  that  they  have  not  controlled?  Bank, 
Tariff,  Internal  Improvement,  Distribution  has  each  in  turn 
been  put  up  or  pulled  down  precisely  as  they  have  chosen 
to  direct,  while  the  subjects  of  war,  acquisition,  and  slavery 
have  been  under  their  exclusive  control  and  management, 
except  only  as  to  the  late  efforts  to  extend  the  latter  into 
territory  to  which  neither  the  climate  or  the  soil  was 
adapted,  and  from  which  they  themselves  had  triumphantly 
excluded  it,  not  only  in  1787,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  great  high-priest  and  apostle  of  Democracy  (Mr.  Jef 
ferson),  but  at  a  much  more  recent  period,  to  wit,  in  1820, 
when  by  solemn  compact,  forced  upon  the  North,  it  was 
forever  excluded ;  so  that  if  the  South  has  any  cause  of 
complaint,  it  has  only  been  against  Southern  Democracy, 
that  they  ought,  years  and  years  ago,  to  have  driven  in 
shame  and  confusion  from  their  confidence  and  service. 

They  have  not  only  put  up  a  bank  in  its  weakness,  but 
pulled  it  down  in  its  power ;  put  up  and  pulled  down  the 
tariff  at  pleasure;  put  up  and  pulled  down  internal  im 
provements  at  will ;  put  up  and  pulled  down  the  distribution 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  as  they  de 
sired  ;  but  they  have  elevated  the  question  of  slavery  far 
above  and  beyond  all  other  questions  and  subjects,  and  now 
they  have  destroyed  the  institution  in  the  Border  States^  at 
least,  and  materially  crippled  it  in  all ;  and,  lastly,  to  close 
the  scene,  they  have — as  far  as  they  could  accomplish  it — 
destroyed  a  Union  and  a  government  the  like  of  which  the 
wisdom  of  centuries  had  not  been  able  to  achieve,  and  have 
left  for  the  South  a  wreck  from  which  the  mind  revolts  with 
horror.  What  more  is  left  for  the  Democracy  to  accom 
plish  ?  Their  task  is  finished,  their  mission  is  ended,  and 
yet  the  people  whom  they  have  ruined  are  still  wedded  to 
Democracy. 


220  THE    GKEAT   REBELLION. 

But  this  is  not  the  most,  nor  yet  the  worst  that  has  been 
done  by  and  in  the  name  of  the  Democracy. 

They  have  turned  the  fair  and  sunny  fields  of  the  South 
into  one  general  camp-ground  and  grave-yard ;  they  have 
covered  the  land  with  mourning ;  they  have  laid  waste  the 
country,  and  made  desolate  the  happy  homes  of  thousands 
upon  thousands;  they  have  filled  the  South  with  helpless 
orphans,  and  mourning  widows  and  mothers;  they  have  ar 
rayed  in  deadly  strife  citizens,  neighbors,  and  friends,  where 
nothing  but  peace,  friendship,  plenty,  and  contentment  were 
known  before ;  they  have  excited  father  against  son,  and  son 
against  father,  and  brother  against  brother ;  they  have  sacri 
ficed  a  million  of  lives,  and  made  cripples  of  nearly  as  many 
more  for  life ;  they  have  filled  the  air  of  Heaven  with  the 
groans  of  the  wounded  and  the  lamentations  of  the  dying; 
they  have  impoverished  and  ruined  the  entire  South,  and 
brought  nothing  but  desolation,  hunger,  and  want  upon  the 
people ;  they  will  have  cost  the  nation  more  than  ten  thou 
sand  millions  of  dollars  from  first  to  last ;  they  have  made 
promises,  predictions,  and  calculations,  not  one  of  which 
have  been  or  will  be  fulfilled ;  they  have  undertaken  to  do 
what  they  will  not  be  able  to  accomplish,  and  what  will 
prove  to  be  a  lamentable  and  disgraceful  failure,  that  will 
involve  all  in  one  common  whirlpool  of  degradation  and 
ruin.  And  all  this  for  what  ?  Why,  that  the  leading  poli 
ticians  of  the  Southern  Democracy  might  perpetuate  their 
own  power  and  appropriate  the  spoils  of  office  to  their  own 
exclusive  use. 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that,  if  an  army  from  the 
lower  regions,  with  Lucifer  himself  at  its  head,  had  been 
turned  loose  with  the  most  demoniac  passions  against  the 
Southern  people,  they  could  not  have  done  much  more  mis 
chief  than  has  been  done  by  these  Southern  leaders  in  the 


THE   GEEAT   EEBELLION.  221 

name  of  Democracy,  and  all  for  their  own  exclusive  and 

selfish  purposes.* 

A  . 

*  18GG. — It  would  scarcely  have  been  credited,  and  still  less  anticipated 
that,  in  less  than  one  year  from  the  overwhelming  discomfiture  and  de 
feat  of  this  same  Democracy  by  the  absolute  subjection  and  surrender  of 
all  their  forces  in  the  field,  which  was  followed  by  the  most  abject  suppli 
cations  for  pardon  from  the  chief  Executive  of  the  nation,  that  they  would 
have  had  the  audacity  to  set  up  any  claim  or  pretension  to  get  control  of 
the  government  again ;  and  still  less  could  it  have  been  anticipated  that, 
by  the  misapplied  clemency  of  the  President  in  granting  indiscriminate 
pardons  to  all,  they  would,  on  this  30th  day  of  March,  1866,  be  in  the  as 
cendency  again  in  almost  every  Southern  state,  looking  eagerly  and  la 
boring  earnestly  to  get  control  of  the  national  government.  YET  so  IT  is. 

I  have  recently  cut  from  a  newspaper  an  article  so  entirely  coinciding 
with  my  own  views  that  I  take  the  liberty  of  appending  it  here,  without 
knowing  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  so  true  and  faithful  a  picture  of  the 
obligations  of  the  people  to  the  once  great  and  overshadowing  Democrat 
ic  party. 

"Record  of  the  'Democratic1  Party. — We  never  read  one  of  the  numer 
ous  complaints  which  appear  in  the  so-called  Democratic  newspapers 
about  the  burden  of  our  public  debt  and  the  consequent  heavy  taxation, 
without  being  reminded  of  the  fact  that  the  Democratic  party  is  responsi 
ble  for  the  rebellion  and  whatever  evils  followed  in  its  track.  Every  dol 
lar  of  our  national  debt  was  expended  in  suppressing  the  rebellion  inaugu 
rated  by  the  Southern  Democrats,  and  connived  at  and  sympathized  with 
by  their  Northern  allies  of  the  same  party.  This  accounts  for  their  desire 
to  repudiate  this  debt,  interest  and  principal,  and  at  the  same  time  ex 
plains  the  secret  of  their  constant  complaint  about  'heavy  taxation.'  A 
"Western  orator  tells  the  truth  in  his  own  way  in  the  following  extract : 

"  'Let  Democratic  journals  and  orators  howl  over  the  debt  and  taxes 
their  war  has  brought.  They  but  magnify  their  own  sins.  Every  dollar 
of  debt  is  a  Democratic  legacy.  Every  tax  is  a  Democratic  gift.  Every 
government  stamp  is  a  Democratic  sticking-plaster.  Every  person  in  the 
United  States  drinks  in  Democi'acy  in  his  tea,  his  coffee,  and  his  whisky, 
and  in  the  sugar  wherewith  he  sweetens  them.  Each  ingredient  pays  its 
quota  for  the  cost  of  Democracy  to  the  country.  The  smoker  inhales  De 
mocracy.  The  sick  man  is  physicked  with  Democracy.  The  laboring 


222  THE    GEE  AT   EEBELLIOX. 

A  party  that  has  been  productive  of  such  unmeasured 
mischief  should  not  only  be  forever  buried  in  oblivion,  but 
the  word  democracy  itself  should  be  stricken  from  the  vo 
cabulary,  that  no  more  abuses  should  be  committed  under 
a  name  of  such  magic  influence. 

THE   KESULT    OF   THE   REBELLION. 

You  ask  me  also,  what  I  think  will  be  the  result  of  this 
rebellion  ?  This  question  is  much  more  briefly  answered. 

man  gives  about  one  hour's  labor  every  day  to  pay  for  Democracy.  The 
capitalist  pays  one  tenth  of  his  income  for  the  cost  of  the  Democratic  par 
ty.  Every  transfer  of  property  is  saddled  with  the  Democratic  burden. 
Before  he  is  begotten  the  child-is  subject  to  the  Democratic  tax.  From 
the  cradle  to  the  grave  he  never  is  free  from  it.  The  funeral  mourning 
must  first  pay  the  penalty  of  Democratic  rule,  and  a  portion  of  that  which 
he  leaves  behind  must  go  into  this  Democratic  vortex.  Generation  after 
generation  will  carry  this  Democratic  burden  from  birth  to  death.  But 
for  the  Democratic  party,  our  people  would  hardly  have  known  the  nature 
of  taxation.  But  for  the  Democratic  party,  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
young  men  whose  bones  are  strewn  over  the  South  would  now  be  produc 
tive  laborers,  and  the  support  and  comfort  of  families  now  desolate.  No 
one  can  attempt  to  deny  this  indictment.  No  one  can  pretend  that  the 
Democratic  party  had  any  cause  for  rebellion.  Yet  it  has  the  effrontery 
to  cry  over  the  burdens  of  taxation.  As  the  father  of  the  Democratic 
party,  when  he  had  stripped  Job  of  family  and  possession?,  charged  it  to 
his  own  sins,  and  sought  to  draw  him  from  his  integrity,  so  his  Democrat 
ic  sons  now  come  forward  with  equal  effrontery  and  charge  their  doings 
upon  the  loyal  people,  and  hypocritically  howl  over  their  afflictions,  and 
seek  to  seduce  them  from  their  integrity,  to  elect  to  power  the  party  which 
has  brought  all  these  woes  upon  the  land.'  " 

Let  an  enlightened  public  now  determine  whether  my  uniform  and  per 
sistent  hostility  to  the  Democratic  party  was  the  result  of  unworthy  and 
unfounded  prejudice,  as  some  have  supposed,  or  of  a  judicious  and  intelli 
gent  knowledge  of  its  true  character,  and  the  danger  to  be  apprehended, 
from  the  nature  of  its  organization,  to  the  interests  and  welfare  of  the 
nation. 


THE    GEE  AT   REBELLION.  223 

The  history  of  the  world  in  6000  years  has  furnished  but 
one  instance  of  a  David  and  Goliath.  I  do  not  think  this 
is  likely  to  prove  a  second.  Five  millions  of  people,  and 
they  far  from  being  united,  with  two  local  governments  in 
operation  in  three  of  the  principal  states,  to  wit,  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  without  money,  for  that  can  not  be 
called  money  which  has  no  foundation  for  its  basis,  and 
is  made  payable  six  months  after  the  happening  of  an  event 
which  is  sure  never  to  take  place,  without  credit,  without 
necessary  clothing,  without  a  sufficiency  of  the  necessaries 
of  life,  without  a  navy,  and  without  commerce,  to  over 
throw  22,000,000  of  people,  with  an  abundant  supply  of 
both  money  and  credit,  with  a  superfluity  of  clothing,  pro 
visions,  and  other  appliances  of  war,  with  a  most  powerful 
navy,  and  a  commerce  unrestricted  with  all  the  world,  would 
be  a  miracle  that  could  be  worked  out  by  the  hand  of  the 
Almighty  alone ;  and  if  he  was  on  either  side,  as  has  been 
so  often  claimed,  then  I  feel  assured  that  that  side  would 
never  suffer  defeat  or  privation.  I  am  compelled,  there 
fore,  to  conclude  that  the  rebellion  will  prove  in  the  end  a 
most  signal  and  disastrous  failure,  unless  the  administration 
at  Washington  shall  be  guilty  of  some  act  of  most  absurd 
and  stupid  folly  that  will  serve  to  divide  a  now  united 
Worth,  and  unite  a  now  divided  South.  But  as  long  as  the 
Southern  authorities  can  raise  the  men,  and  the  provisions 
to  sustain  them,  the  war  will  be  prosecuted ;  and  when  there 
is  nothing  left  with  which  to  feed  the  army,  which  will  be 
first  served,  what  will  be  left  to  feed  the  people  ?  Unfor 
tunately,  those  who  made  the  war,  those  who  were  looked 
up  to  by  their  more  ignorant  neighbors  and  friends  for  ad 
vice  and  counsel,  will  not  be  the  chief  sufferers ;  for  after 
having  induced  them  to  adopt  a  course  that  drove  the  hus 
bands,  brothers,  and  sons  into  the  field,  they  have  themselves, 


224  THE    GKEAT   REBELLION. 

for  the  most  part,  dodged  behind  every  conceivable  pretext 
to  avoid  the  danger  and  privation  to  which  they  subjected 
others.  What  unfathomable  contempt  I  feel  for  such  crea 
tures,  who  should  have  been  the  first  to  rush  to  battle  and 
vindicate  a  cause  of  their  own  creation ! 

CONCLUSION. 

I  have  thus  furnished  you  with  a  sketch  of  the  origin  and 
progress  of  secession,  as  derived  from  my  own  personal 
knowledge  of  the  events  recorded,  as  I  have  been  an  active 
participator  in  all  the  scenes  referred  to  for  the  last  thirty 
years,  and  you  are  supplied  with  the  means  by  which  a  mere 
handful  of  bad  and  selfish  men,  a  set  of  political  gamblers 
and  stock-jobbers,  have  gradually  and  stealthily  advanced 
step  by  step  in  their  wicked  work,  and  at  each  successive 
point  succeeded  in  seducing  into  their  ranks  the  too  easy 
and  timid  dupes  from  the  ranks  of  their  opponents,  until  at 
last  it  has  come  to  be  a  crime  to  dispute  the  orthodoxy  of 
their  detestable  doctrines,  or  to  raise  a  voice  in  favor  of  the 
great  work  of  our  immortal  fathers.  Thus  you  have  seen 
how  a  reckless  and  desperate  set  of  politicians,  who  are  now 
courted,  honored,  rewarded,  and  caressed,  have,  for  their 
own  hateful  and  selfish  ends,  involved  the  great  body  of  the 
confiding  and  unsuspecting  people  of  the  South  in  all  the 
frightful  consequences  that  must  inevitably  result  from  their 
want  of  fidelity  to  a  government  that  never  had  the  power 
to  oppress  them,  and  which  they  were  under  the  highest 
obligations  of  honor  and  duty  to  support ;  and  now  they  im 
piously  implore  the  Almighty  on  this,  the  day  of  humilia 
tion  and  prayer,  to  help  them  out  of  difficulties  of  their  own 
seeking,  and  from  which  they  have  no  power  to  extricate 
themselves  except  by  unconditional  submission,  while  their 
constant  cry  is  that  they  are  "  an  outraged  and  oppressed 


THE    GREAT   REBELLION.  225 

people,  upon  whom  an  unholy  war  has  been  waged  by  a  ty 
rant  and  a  despot,"  and  "  all  they  ask  is  '  to  be  let  alonej  "  and 
who  are  now  exhausting  every  energy  to  involve  the  powers 
of  Europe  in  their  own  unprofitable  and  ruinous  strife. 

I  derive  no  small  degree  of  satisfaction  from  the  reflec 
tion,  as  all  can  bear  me  witness,  that  at  every  step  of  their 
unhallowed  and  iniquitous  proceedings  I  have  promptly,  and 
without  a  calculation  of  the  cost,  arrayed  myself  against 
them,  and  warned  the  people  in  public  speeches,  and  by 
publications  innumerable,  in  different  forms,  that  the  design 
of  the  leaders  of  Democracy  was  the  disruption  of  the 
Union,  accompanied  with  the  entreaty  that  they  would  not 
follow  them.  The  people  knew  nothing  of  my  deep-rooted 
devotion  to  the  Union,  and  of  nay  utter  disregard  for  all 
parties  and  for  all  men,  even  for  myself,  when  contrasted 
with  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  my  country.  They 
did  not  know  that  I  had  made  the  Union  the  god  of  my 
idolatry  on  earth,  and  they  set  it  all  down  to  an  excess  of  • 
party  feeling,  and  would  not  heed  what  I  had  to  say.  All 
can  bear  me  witness,  too,  that  on  all  such  occasions  I  have 
offered  an  earlier,  more  persistent,  and  determined  resistance 
to  their  measures  of  mischief  than  any  other  living  man, 
which  not  only  exposed  me  to  the  most  violent  denuncia 
tion  and  abuse  of  the  Democratic  press  and  party  for  what 
they  were  pleased  to  term  a  want  of  fidelity  to  the  South, 
but  also  subjected  me  to  the  groundless  suspicion  on  the 
part  of  many  of  my  own  political  cotemporaries,  who  could 
not  be  made  to  believe  in  the  dangers  with  which  we  were 
encompassed ;  and  in  this  way  and  for  this  reason  it  was 
that  I  was  so  often  left  to  stand  alone  in  the  breach,  and 
battle  single-handed  against  all  parties  in  the  state,  until 
the  most  bitter  and  unrelenting  of  my  foes  were  those  who 
should  have  been  found  fighting  by  my  side. 

K  2 


226  THE    GREAT   REBELLION. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  let  me  say  that,  whether  the  re 
sponsibility  rests  upon  the  North  or  the  South,  whether 
upon  the  Abolitionists  of  the  North  proper  or  the  Seces 
sionists  of  the  South,  for  breaking  up,  even  for  the. time 
being,  such  a  government  as  our  fathers  had  formed  for  us, 
which  was  the  pride  and  boast  of  every  true  American 
heart  at  home  and  abroad,  and  the  wonder  and  admiration 
of  an  enlightened  world,  and  involving  32,000,000  of  people 
on  this  continent  in  all  the  horrors  through  which  we  have 
and  are  yet  to  pass  before  we  see  the  end,  and  all  mankind 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  its  consequences,  the  party 
that  is  responsible  for  the  loss  of  the  dead,  the  sufferings 
of  the  living,  the  sacrifice  of  human  happiness  and  general 
prosperity  of  the  whole  country,  to  say  nothing  of  the  infu 
riate,  incarnate  feeling  that  has  been  engendered  between 
the  different  sections  of  the  country  and  between  citizens  of 
the  same  states  and  neighborhoods,  will,  as  I  firmly  believe, 
have  to  answer  hereafter,  both  in  this  world  and  in  the 
world  to  come,  for  the  most  atrocious  and  stupendous  crime 
that  has  been  committed  since  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord 
and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 


APPENDIX. 


THE   GREAT   STRIKE   FOR   HIGHER   WAGES. 

IN  the  preceding  pages  I  have  given  a  faithful  and  succinct  history  of 
this  "  GREAT  STRIKE  FOR  HIGHER  WAGES,"  under  the  direction 
of  the  Trades'  Z)W-UNION  ASSOCIATION,  and  traced  the  progress  of  the 
movement,  step  by  step,  for  a  period  of  nearly  thirty  years  before  it  broke 
out  into  open  and  defiant  rebellion.  I  have  shown,  too,  how  and  under 
what  circumstances  the  plan  of  the  leaders  had  been  changed  from  their 
original  purpose  of  separation  to  a  fixed  design  to  usurp  the  whole  pow 
er  of  the  general  government — to  seize  upon  the  Capitol  at  Washington, 
inaugurate  their  chief  as  the  head  of  the  nation,  and  thus  force  Democ 
racy  upon  the  nation,  and,  if  they  could  accomplish  it,  extend  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery  over  the  whole  country,  in  which  gigantic  work  the  act 
ive  co-operation  of  a  number  of  the  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party  North 
stood  pledged  to  come  to  their  assistance. 

I  have  already  explained  why  that  contemplated  aid  was  not  rendered 
at  the  time ;  but,  since  the  foregoing  history  was  written,  circumstances 
have  occurred,  and  facts  have  been  developed,  which,  I  think,  fully  reveal 
the  plot,  with  a  necessary  change  of  actors  in  some  of  the  parts  to  suit 
the  shifting  scenes  of  the  times.  The  timely-discovered  and,  fortunately, 
defeated  Democratic  insurrection,  which  was  crushed  out  just  before  the 
late  presidential  election  in  1864,  and  of  which  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  at 
the  head,  and  participated  in  by  that  very  extensive  political  organization 
known  as  the  "KNIGHTS  OF  THE  GOLDEN  CIRCLE,"  with  the  substitution 
of  General  McClellan  for  Mr.  Davis  (though  I  acquit  General  McClellan 
of  all  connection  with  the  ulterior  and  principal  designs  of  the  leaders  of 
the  insurrection,  who  hoped  to  mould  him  to  their  own  purposes  if  elect 
ed),  was  only  the  delayed  action  of  the  party,  rendered  necessary  by  the 
circumstances  already  explained.  I  think  there  is  little  room  to  doubt 
that,  but  for  the  precipitate  and  unexpected  action  of  the  authorities  of 
South  Carolina  in  their  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  instigated  by  the  hot 
haste  of  the  secession  leaders  in  the  Virginia  Convention,  which  did  not 


228  APPENDIX. 

leave  full  time  for  the  completion  of  their  organization,  Northern  Dem 
ocratic  insurrection  would  have  developed  itself  in  the  spring  or  summer 
of  1861  instead  of  the  fall  of  1861. 

Not  having  had  access  to  Northern  newspapers  since  the  war,  it  was  by 
mere  accident  that  another  piece  of  evidence  has  fallen  under  my  observ 
ation,  of  which,  I  dare  say,  a  great  deal  more  has  appeared  of  which  I 
have  no  knowledge,  and  of  which  no  doubt  much  more  will  hereafter  ap 
pear.  That  to  which  I  now  refer  was  the  statement  made  by  "  General 
Gantt,"  of  Arkansas,  who  was  himself  an  active  secessionist  in  1861,  and 
afterward  a  general  in  the  Confederate  service,  was  taken  prisoner,  re 
lented,  and  testified  against  his  Northern  Democratic  friends,  who  did  not 
" come  to  time,"  as  promised,  in  '61.  I  cut  the  following  article  from  the 
New  York  Tribune,  the  date  of  which  I  have  forgotten : 

"PROOF  DIRCET. — General  Gantt,  of  Arkansas,  has  been  the  subject 
of  fierce  abuse  in  the  Copperhead  journals,  for  which  we  were  unable  to 
account  until  we  recently  observed  that,  in  speaking  for  the  Union  cause 
some  weeks  since,  he  made  the  following  statement.  He  said  that,  after 
his  capture  by  the  Union  forces  (he  was  a  general  in  the  rebel  service)  at 
Island  No.  10,  he  was  brought  North  to  this  state  as  a  prisoner  of  war, 
and  declared  that  prominent  Democrats  of  Pennsylvania  then  conferred 
with  him,  and  assured  him  '  that  if  the  rebels  would  hold  out  a  little  lon 
ger  they  would  be  successful,  for  the  Democrats  of  the  North  would  arrest 
the  war  by  defeating  the  conscription,  and  otherwise  rendering  the  admin 
istration  powerless  to  prosecute  it.'  And  he  added,  with  withering  em 
phasis,  'I  COULD  GIVE  YOU  THE  NAMES  IP  WHAT  I  SAY  IS  DISPUTED.' 

There  were  a  number  of  Democratic  members  of  the  Legislature  present, 
and  they  did  not  dare  to  question  the  statement  or  call  for  names.  He 
said  '  the  Democrats  of  the  North  ADVISED  THEM  TO  WAR,  PROMISED  TO 

COME  TO  THEIR  ASSISTANCE,  AND  THEN  LEFT  THEM  ALONE  IN  THE  STRUG 
GLE,  and  confined  themselves  to  cowardly,  perfidious,  and  stealthy  as 
saults  upon  their  own  government.'  He  said  that,  instead  of  Northern 
Democrats  coming  to  their  assistance,  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  came  in 
overwhelming  force  and  conquered  them;  'but,'  said  he,  'they  brought 
government  with  them,  and  rescued  us  from  a  tyranny  more  terrible  than 
death.'" 

General  McClellan  was  no  politician ;  had  never,  as  far  as  I  knew, 
been  in  public  life  except  as  a  soldier ;  had  never  filled  any  political  office 
or  place ;  had  little  idea,  perhaps,  of  the  quirks  and  quibbles,  acts  and 
tricks  of  practical  professional  politicians,  and  lent  his  name  unwittingly, 


APPENDIX.  229 

I  am  prepared  to  believe,  to  those  adroit  managers  and  skillful  manipula 
tors,  who,  if  they  could  have  once  had  him  under  their  thumb,  hoped  to 
mould  and  fashion  him  to  any  shape  the  Democracy  might  see  fit  to  de 
mand.  Fortunately  for  himself,  he  did  not  fall  into  the  potters'1  hands ; 
fortunately  for  his  country,  they  had  no  opportunity  to  entangle  him  in 
their  political  cobwebs  before  he  was  aware  of  it,  from  which  extrication 
would  have  been  difficult. 

I  have  called  this  rebellion  A  STRIKE  FOR  HIGHER  WAGES,  and  so  it 
was,  nothing  more  and  nothing  less.  It  was  a  bold  and  wicked  strike  to 
hold  on,  per  fas  aut  nefas,  to  the  power  and  control  of  the  government, 
which  they  found  was  naturally  and  certainly  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  majority  of  the  North.  The  government  had  been  in  operation  for 
seventy-two  years ;  during  the  greater  part  of  this  time  the  North  had  had 
a  considerable  numerical  majority;  but,  by  &  pretty  well  united  South  on 
the  slavery  question,  the  minority  had  been  able  to  retain  sufficient  strength 
in  the  North,  through  the  patronage  of  the  government,  to  secure  its  con 
tinuance  in  power.  Accordingly  the  South  had  had  General  Washington 
at  the  head  of  the  government  for  eight  years,  Mr.  Jefferson  for  eight 
years,  Mr.  Madison  for  eight,  Mr.  Monroe  for  eight,  General  Jackson  for 
eight,  Mr.  Van  Buren  (who,  although  a  Northern  man,  was  nominated 
and  elected  by  the  South  while  running  against  a  Southern  candidate) 
for  four,  Mr,  Pblk  for  four,  Mr.  Tyler  (who,  though  elected  by  the  Whigs, 
was  bought  up  by  the  Democracy)  for  four,  Mr.  Pierce  (who,  like  Mr.  Van 
Burcn,  was  nominated  and  elected  by  the  Southern  Democracy  against  a 
Southern  candidate)  for  four,  and  Mr.  Buchanan  for  four — making  in  all 
sixty  years ;  which  was  offsetted  by  twelve  only  on  the  part  of  the  opposi 
tion  to  Democracy,  to  wit,  John  Adams  for  four,  John  Quincy  Adams, 
four,  and  General  Taylor  and  Mr.  Fillmore,  four;  and,  during  the  whole 
terms  of  the  two  latter,  the  Democracy  had  control  of  one  or  both  of  the 
two  houses  of  Congress ;  and  such  had  been  the  success  of  this  minority, 
by  the  perfection  of  their  organization  and  their  system  of  rewards  and 
punishments,  that  they  grew  bold,  insolent,  and  insane  in  their  demands, 
and,  throwing  off  all  disguise  in  an  hour  of  weakness  and  madness  in 
1854r,  they  repudiated  all  compromise,  old  and  new,  and  planting  them 
selves  firmly  on  the  doctrine  of  "  SQUATTER  SOVEREIGNTY,"  which  they 
had  previously — and  have  again,  since  they  found  it  did  not  pay  as  well  as 
they  expected — so  indignantly  repudiated,  declared  all  compromises  eva 
sions  or  violations  of  the  Constitution  not  to  be  tolerated  for  the  future, 
fairly  and  squarely  tendered  the  issue  to  the  North,  that  the  powers  of  the 


230  APPENDIX. 

government  must  be  absolutely  and  entirely  in  the  hands  and  under  the 
control  of  the  majority  or  the  minority,  and  that  all  efforts  at  compromise 
and  conciliation  would  be  held  as  an  act  of  infidelity  and  hostility  to  the 
South.  From  that  hour  I  saw  that  the  South  was  doomed,  and  sacrificed 
to  the  unholy  ambition  of  the  leaders  of  Democracy ;  and  the  efforts  I 
then -made,  in  numerous  appeals  to  my  countrymen,  to  rise  up  in  their 
strength  and  resist  this  act  of  insanity  and  mischief,  only  served  to  bring 
upon  me  such  a  storm  of  indignation,  rebuke,  and  coarse  abuse,  as  was 
never  before  or  since  vented  on  any  public  man  in  this  country  or  else 
where.  Arnold  himself  was  treated  with  tenderness  and  kindness  in 
comparison.  These  epithets  emanated  from  all  parties ;  and  my  own 
party,  if  possible,  was  more  bitter  than  the  rest ;  I  was  sustained  by  none, 
the  fruits  of  which  they  have  since  and  are  now  reaping.  I  must  be  ex 
cused  for  this  partial  repetition  of  what  I  have  said  in  the  foregoing  pages, 
but  I  want  to  impress  it  strongly  on  the  minds  of  the  South,  that  they  may 
see  to  whom  they  are  so  deeply  indebted  for  their  present  terrible  and  af 
flicted  condition. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  in  November,  1860.  The  climax  had  arrived, 
the  pretext  was  afforded ;  and  so  proud  am  I  of  the  position  I  then  took, 
and  have  ever  since  maintained,  that  I  hope  I  may  stand  excused  for  thus 
publicly  washing  my  hands  of  all  responsibility  for  what  has  ensued  by 
here  producing  a  portion  of  my  correspondence  on  that  question,  begin 
ning  with  November,  1860,  and  running  down  to  the  present  time.  The 
letter  which  follows  was  the  first  after  the  election.  This  correspondence 
was  with  a  gentleman  who  was  at  the  head  of  a  spirited  Democratic  se 
cession  paper,  which  was  published  at  the  time  in  some  few  of  the  South 
ern  papers. 

Staunton,  Nov.  20,  I860. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  BOTTS, — You  may  perhaps  regard  me  as  both  vain  and 
intrusive  thus  to  thrust  before  your  notice  the  inefficient  logic  of  an  indi 
vidual  so  entirely  innocent  of  weight  in  the  national  councils  as  myself; 
but  you  will  permit  me  to  plead,  as  apology,  \he  unusual  and  sincere  in 
terest  which  I  feel  in  your  own  personal  advancement  as  well  as  the  pub 
lic  good,  to  say  nothing  about  a  wish  to  advise  you  of  the  error  (which 
posterity  will  surely  point  at  as  the  ' '  great  blunder"  of  your  life)  into  which 
your  darling  pet  and  mistress — the  Union— has  insensibly  invited  you.  A 
mistress  who,  when  you  first  embraced  her,  was  comely,  and  worthy  of 
your  love,  hut  has  now  become  hideous  and  rotten,  and  only  fit  to  be  cast 
aside  for  any  untried  novelty. 


APPENDIX.  231 

I  am  fresh  from  an  attentive  perusal  of  your  able,  earnest,  and  patriotic 
"dream"  in  the  Xe\v  York  Tribune,  which  some  friend  was  thoughtful 
enough  to  send  me  ;  and,  after  a  very  careful  review  of  your  mind  and 
character,  both  well  known  to  me,  I  can  only  charge  your  inveterate  and 
industrious  labor  in  behalf  of  this  passe  leman  to  that  most  potent  and  ty 
rannical  of  despots,  habit — a  weakness  which  somebody  aptly  and  point 
edly  describes  as  "present  action  from  past  motives,"  or  a  persevering 
fondness  for  a  Union  whose  integrity  has  been  constantly  and  cruelly  vio 
lated  by  the  industrious  malevolence  of  the  Northern  States.  But  it  is 
not  so  much  concerning  the  policy  of  disunion  that  I  desire  to  talk  with 
you ;  rather  do  I  propose  to  ask  you  to  sit  side  by  side  with  me,  and  suf 
fer  a  true  and  earnest  friend  to  entreat  you  to  forego  your  lofty  and  patri 
otic,  but  suicidal,  and  consequently  insane,  efforts  to  oppose  your  hand,  as 
weak  and  powerless  as  that  of  old  Priam,  against  the  inevitable  fall  of  that 
great  Avalanche  which  now  hangs  impending,  and  only  pauses  until  the 
devoted  band  of  "  dreamers"  have  dwindled  to  three  hundred,  as  at  Ther 
mopylae,  to  blot  them  from  the  book  of  life. 

Your  own  prophetic  wisdom,  which  before  has  been  your  bane,  but 
should  now  become  your  strength,  must  advise  you  that  a  separation  of 
the  states  is  inevitable.  Then  why  not,  insteaoTof  vain  Titan  efforts  to 
avoid  the  thunderbolt,  why  not,  I  say,  rather  rack  and  exhaust  every  en 
ergy  of  mind  and  body  in  search  of  the  policy  which  may  guide  it  best? 
For  my  part,  I  must  say  that  the  sublime  martyrdom  of  those  silly  people 
at  Thermopylae  has  always  seemed  to  me  to  belong  rather  to  the  absurd 
than  the  heroic.  I  want  you  to  live  to  fight  another  fight ;  and,  in  order 
to  do  this  to  some  purpose,  you  must  now  snatch  the  guidance  of  secession 
— (the  wild  horse  did  not  start  at  your  bidding) — and,  with  necessity  for 
your  apology,  arrest  or  divert  the  mad  devils  that  are  loose.  As  far  as 
what  is  called  exalted  devotion  to  the  Union  is  worth,  why  others,  your 
inferiors  in  both  political  and  intellectual  prominence,  have  risen  a  whole 
head  above  you  by  proposing  an  appeal  even  from  your  remote  tribunal, 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  tickle  the  incorruptible  sovereigns  with  the  prom 
ise  of  a  final  reference  of  any  vexed  question  that  may  have  eluded  the 
wisdom  of  Congress,  and  derided  the  constitutional  lore  of  the  Supreme 
Judges,  to  their  distinguished  sagacity.  So  you  see  that  you  are  no 
where  ;  for  with  an  independent,  almost  obstinate  hostility  to  popular  er 
ror,  you,  of  all,  will  surely  not  consent  to  ape  these  hungry  parasites  of 
public  favor. 

We  all  know  that  your  mission  on  earth,  like  that  of  Cassandra,  has 


232  APPENDIX. 

been  to  foresee  and  describe,  with  historical  fidelity,  the  events  in  the  fu 
ture,  only,  like  that  unlucky  maiden,  to  be  hissed  and  scoffed  as  an  im 
postor,  until  Time,  "the  philosopher,"  had  vindicated  your  claims  to  the 
prophetic  mantle.  All  I  now  ask  of  you  is  that  you  will  for  once  sub 
mit  to  this  irresistible  torrent,  which  not  all  the  patriots  of  all  the  South 
can  avert  or  control,  and  thus  render  your  voice  fit  and  acceptable  to  bo 
heard  in  the  new  state  of  things  which  must  soon  come  upon  us ;  and 
why  not  ?  Grant  that  disunion  is  present  and  real,  and  I  have  you  at 
my  feet ;  for  not  from  you  do  I  listen  to  hear  a  song  in  praise  of  the  dy 
ing  martyr,  who  adds  the  absurdity  of  suicide,  as  only  more  notorious 
witness  to  his  own  despondency,  and  the  weakness  of  a  cause  he  has  tip- 
held  and  abandoned.  And  you  too,  by  such  desperate  opposition,  will 
render  yourself  powerless  for  good,  and  be  guilty  of  deserting  the  service 
in  time  of  greatest  need.  Even  grant  the  South  is  about  to  perpetrate 
a  great  wrong,  or  call  it  crime,  not  then  should  good  men  fail  to  tender 
such  counsel  as  may  avoid  the  evil  and  secure  the  right,  out  of  the  chaos 
of  conflicting  interests  that  will  seek  a  place  in  the  deliberations  of  this 
new  confederacy ;  and  shorn  of  your  locks  by  an  uxorious  fondness  for 
this  skeleton  phantom  of  Delilah,  as  you  surely  will  be,  where,  then,  will 
we  seek  to  find  the  national  and  intellectual  patriotism  and  power  to  re 
buke  the  petty  schemes  of  district  politicians  and  rural  Machiavellis, 
whose  narrow  ambition  is  racked  and  content  to  secure  a  charitable 
crumb  from  the  Federal  party  ? 

I  may  have  been  compelled,  my  dear  sir,  in  pursuit  of  my  object,  to 
speak  of  you  here  in  terms  which  may  sound  of  flattery ;  but  I  trust  that 
you  will  not  understand  them  as  such,  but  only  as  the  common  echo  of 
the  world,  as  well  as  of  my  own  convictions.  With  a  confidence  that 
you  will  at  least  bestow  a  thought  on  my  suggestions,  and  with  all  wishes 
for  your  good,  I  subscribe  myself  your  friend,  etc. 

Richmond,  Nov.  27,  I860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  been  endeavoring  to  make  an  opportunity  for 
some  days  past  to  answer  your  very  friendly  and  seductive  letter,  but  my 
whole  time,  day  and  night,  has  been  so  constantly  occupied  with  matters 
that  could  not  be  postponed,  that  until  the  present  I  have  been  compelled 
to  defer  it — and  even  now  I  must  be  brief. 

I  speak  of  your  letter  as  being  seductive ;  I  refer,  of  course,  to  those 
portions  which  hold  out  promises  of  future  greatness,  if  I  will  "seize  upon 
the  present  occasion  with  a  nervous  grasp  and  guide  the  movement  in 


APPENDIX.  233 

favor  of  secession,"  which  you  think  is  fixed  and  inevitable  ;  and  many  a 
charming  woman  has  sacrificed  her  honor  and  her  reputation  to  the  in 
sidious  tempter  under  far  less  imposing  circumstances  than  those  you  pre 
sent  for  my  consideration,  but  it  was  only  because  they  had  not  the  firm 
ness  to  say,  as  I  do  now  to  you  in  the  language  of  our  Savior,  "  Get  thee 
behind  me,  Satan.'1 

I  do  not  concur  with  you  in  the  opinion  that  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union  is  inevitable ;  the  sky  looks  threatening,  I  grant  you ;  but  so  it 
has  done  before,  and  yet  the  clearest  sunshine  has  succeeded  without  a 
shower  of  rain  or  a  peal  of  thunder — so  I  trust  it  will  be  again.  But  if  it 
should  be  otherwise,  and  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  to  be 
overthrown,  no  part  of  the  folly,  the  wickedness,  and  the  crime  shall  be 
charged  upon  me,  either  by  the  wise  and  good  men  of  the  present  age  or 
by  generations  yet  to  come. 

True,  South  Carolina  has  rushed  on  with  a  headlong  impetuosity  whol 
ly  unsuited  to  the  gravity  of  the  occasion,  as  if  she  were  afraid  to  trust 
herself  with  time  for  calm  deliberation,  relying  more  upon  the  passion  than 
the  wisdom  of  her  people,  and  it  may  be  that,  under  a  ridiculous  and 
false  idea  of  a  becoming  pride  and  true  greatness,  she  may  plunge  the 
state  into  very  serious  difficulty ;  she  may  even  declare  herself  out  of  the 
Union.  She  did  so  by  ordinance  in  convention  in  1833,  but  still  the  Union 
was  not  rent  asunder,  nor  will  it  now  be,  as  I  think.  No  other  state  is 
likely  to  go  with  her,  and,  what  is  best  and  surest  of  all,  Virginia  certain 
ly  will  not,  in  her  present  state  of  mind. 

If  I  could  sec  the  least  semblance  of  justification  in  the  attitude  South 
Carolina  has  assumed,  I  would  sympathize  with  her,  but  I  do  not,  for 
reasons  already  given  in  my  speech,  which  you  say  you  have  just  read. 
I  see  nothing  in  that  position  but  plain,  bold,  daring,  flat-footed  rebellion 
against,  and  treason  to  the  rest  of  the  states ;  and  I  can  not  be  induced 
to  take  sides  with  her  in  her  disloyalty  and  treachery.  Who  can  ask  it 
of  me  when  her  own  most  trusted  and  active  leader,  Mr.  Yancey,  in  his 
Montgomery  speech,  said, 

"  If  I  understand  my  distinguished  friend  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Pryor), 
the  election  of  a  Black  Republican  President  would  be  an  issue  for  dis 
union.  I  understand  my  learned  colleague  (Mr.  Hilliard)  to  say  that 
tipon  that  issue  he  would  be  ready  to  dissolve  the  Union.  I  say,  with  all 
deference  to  my  colleagues  here,  that  no  more  inferior  issue  could  be  ten 
dered  to  the  South  upon  which  we  should  dissolve  the  Union  than  the 
loss  of  an  election When  I  am  asked  to  raise  the  flag  of  revo- 


234  APPENDIX. 

lution  against  an  election  under  the  forms  of  law  and  the  Constitution,  / 
am  asked  to  do  an  unconstitutional  thing,  according  to  the  Constitution  as  it 
now  exists.  I  am  asked  to  put  myself  in  the  position  of  a  rebel'of  a  trai 
tor,  in  a  position  where,  if  the  government  should  succeed  and  put  down 
the  revolution,  I  and  my  friends  can  be  arraigned  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  there  be  sentenced  to  be  liangedfor  violating 
the  Constitution  and  laivs  of  my  country.'11 

Such  is  the  admission  of  the  leader  whom  you  profess  to  follow,  and 
you  make  an  earnest  appeal  to  me  to  unite  with  you  in  assuming  the  po 
sition  of  a  rebel  and  a  traitor,  for  which  I  may  be  sentenced  to  be  hanged 
for  violating  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  my  country.  Pardon  me,  my 
impetuous  friend,  but  Iliad  rather  not!  I  am  impelled  by  every  consider 
ation  of  honor  and  duty  to  decline  your  very  polite  invitation. 

Do  you  doubt,  or  does  any  sensible  and  reflecting  man  doubt  that  Mr. 
Yancey  described  truly  the  situation  which  every  man  occupies  who  fa 
vors  the  movement  of  South  Carolina  because  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln  ?  for  even  she  does  not  pretend  that  she  would  have  occupied  her 
present  position  if  Lincoln  had  been  defeated,  and  yet  arc  you  not  sur 
prised  to  see  so  many  of  our  own  people  turning  "rebels"  and  "trai 
tors"  at  her  bidding?  are  you  not,  indeed,  even  surprised  at  yourself? 
Rebels  and  traitors!  Very  imposing  and  high-sounding  designations 
truly !  But  I  have  no  particular  desire  that  they  should  attach  to  my 
name  either  now  or  in  after  time ;  my  aspirations  do  not  run  in  that 
direction. 

South  Carolina,  spurning  the  counsels  and  co-operation  of  Virginia  and 
other  Southern  States,  has,  of  her  own  accord  and  upon  her  own  hook, 
chosen  to  raise  a  mighty  and  a  fearful  issue  with  the  general  govern 
ment,  and  upon  the  general  government  rests  the  responsibility  of  settling 
the  question.  Hands  off  and  fair  play  to  both,  say  I.  In  its  present 
stage  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  it,  and,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  turn 
her  over  to  "Uncle  Sam;"  and  if  she  can  maintain  her  position  against 
that  respectable  and  powerful  old  gentleman,  let  her  have  all  the  honor, 
and  glory,  and  benefit  of  the  achievement  to  herself.  I  hope  she  may 
have  a  good,  pleasant,  and  merry  time  of  it.  She  will  still  be  a  state  of 
the  Union  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  and  I  have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt 
either  of  the  right  or  the  power  to  control  her ;  the  only  question  would 
be,  Is  it  worth  while?  Would  it  not  be  better  to  let  her  go  out,  and  stay 
out,  until  she  had  made  the  experiment,  and,  like  the  prodigal  son,  re 
turned  to  her  home  to  eat  of  the  fatted  calf? 


APPENDIX.  235 

But  that  unfortunately  would  lead  to  another  perplexing  difficulty,  which 
is,  that  it  would  amount  to  an  acknowledgment  that  we  have  no  govern 
ment,  and  never  had  one ;  that  our  fathers  were  a  set  of  old  fools  and 
fogies,  who  thought  they  were  making  for  their  posterity  a  government 
that  would  endure  forever,  while  it  was  nothing  more  than  a  mere  volun 
tary  association  of  states,  to  be  tolerated  only  so  long  as  it  was  entirely 
convenient  and  agreeable  to  all  parties  to  remain  in,  but  that  the  mo 
ment  it  became  irksome  to  any  one  state  it  might  be  broken  up  as  readi 
ly  as  an  ordinary  whist-party  whenever  one  of  the  partners  might  happen 
to  get  sleepy.  And  it  requires  but  little  reflection  to  satisfy  any  reason 
ing  man  that,  if  the  doctrine  of  the  right  of  secession  is  once  recognized 
by  the  government,  all  its  powers  cease  at  once,  even  though  the  doc 
trine  may  not  be  carried  into  practical  effect.  The  government  is  now 
supported  by  loans  and  treasury  notes,  and  has  been,  with  the  exception 
of  short  intervals,  for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  What  credit  would  the 
government  be  entitled  to,  arid  what  credit  could  it  obtain,  either  at 
home  or  abroad,  if  it  were  acknowledged  that  any  one  state  might  at  any 
moment  break  up  the  government  and  thus  cancel  the  debt,  as  South 
Carolina  now  purposes  to  cancel  hers  ? 

When  would  we  be  safe  in  declaring  war  for  the  defense  of  our  honor 
or  rights,  or  for  the  protection  of  our  people,  if  in  the  midst  of  the  war 
the  Union  could  be  dissolved  and  the  government  destroyed,  because 
some  one  of  the  states  might  be  disappointed  in  the  election  of  her  favor 
ite  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  or  because  her  interest  would  be  pro 
moted  by  doing  so,  or  because  it  would  enhance  the  price  of  cotton  to 
open  a  direct  trade  with  the  enemy  ?  What  government  on  earth  would 
thereafter  treat  with  us  as  one  of  the  nations  of  the  world.  I  do  not  wish 
to  be  disrespectful  to  any  body,  and  most  surely  not  to  you  ;  but  I  hope 
you  will  pardon  me  for  saying  that  one  of  the  inconceivable  and  irrecon 
cilable  things  of  this  world  to  mind  is,  that  an  idea  of  such  unmixed  and 
unqualified  nonsense  and  absurdity  as  that  of  the  right  of  a  state  to  secede 
at  pleasure  should  ever  have  obtained  a  place  in  the  mind  of  any  man 
who  was  not  an  absolute  lunatic.  Men's  minds  are  differently  organized, 
I  know,  and  we  see  things  through  different  optics,  and  I  dare  say  you 
and  others  look  upon  me  in  the  same  light  as  I  look  upon  you  and  upon 
them.  Well,  be  it  so.  Honors  are  easy,  and  we  break  even. 

It  has  become  a  favorite  and  fashionable  mode  of  expression  to  sny, 
"this  is  not  a  government  offeree,"  "the  government  was  not  made  by 
force,  and  can  not  be  kept  together  by  force."  It  is  very  true  that  the 


236  APPENDIX. 

government  was  not  made  by  force,  and  it  is  for  that  very  reason  that 
there  is  no  right  to  break  it  up,  and  that  it  can  be  kept  together  by  force. 
Whether  that  is  a  desirable  mode  of  doing  it  is  altogether  a  different 
question.  If  it  had  been  formed  by  force,  if  some  tyrannical  despot  had 
forced  a  government  upon  the  people  which  had  never  obtained  their  ap 
proval  or  assent,  then  any  of  the  parties  would  be  justified  in  throwing  it 
off  whenever  they  could  get  rid  of  it.  But  it  is  precisely  because  it  was 
not  made  by  force,  that  it  was  a  free  and  voluntary  compact,  entered  into 
one  with  another,  and  each  one  with  all  the  rest,  that  there  is  a  power  to 
enforce  the  compact. 

Debts  are  not,  and  can  not  be  created  by  force ;  but  if  voluntarily  en 
tered  into,  the  payment  of  the  obligation  may  be  enforced  by  the  strong 
arm  of  the  law.  And  it  is  no  government  at  all  if  it  is  not  one  of  suffi 
cient  force  to  protect  itself  against  treason  and  rebellion  on  the  part  of 
its  citizens.  If  it  is  not  a  government  of  force,  why  was  Congress  clothed 
with  the  power  "  to  provide  for  the  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute 
the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions," 
whether  they  come  from  within  or  without?  Pshaw!  that's  all /a/ /a/, 
to  tickle  the  ears  of  groundlings.  It  was  a  government  of  force,  and  very 
efficient  force  in  1833,  when  the  Force  Bill  passed  a  Democratic  Con 
gress  in  the  House  by  a  vote  of  149  to  48,  and  in  the  Senate  by  32  to  1. 
When  and  how  has  the  Constitution  been  changed  since  ?  or  is  it  only  be 
cause  statesmen  have  grown  more  wise  of  late? 

Establish  their  doctrine  of  secession,  and  it  is  at  once  settled  that  there 
is  an  absolute  impossibility  of  ever  establishing  a  fixed,  permanent,  and 
stable  government  out  of  two  or  more  states.  For  if  our  Constitution 
does  not  make  this  a  permanent  government,  as  designed  by  its  founders, 
then  language  can  not  be  employed  that  would  make  it  so,  and  our  insti 
tutions  are  no  better  than  those  of  Mexico. 

But  if  a  new  confederacy  were  to  be  formed  I  could  not  go  with  yon, 
for  I  should  use  whatever  influence  I  might  be  able  to  exert  against  en 
tering  into  one  with  South  Carolina,  who  has  played  the  part  of  a  com 
mon  brawler  and  disturber  of  the  public  peace  for  the  last  thirty  years, 
and  who  could  give  no  security  that  I  would  be  willing  to  accept  that  she 
would  not  be  as  faithless  to  the  next  compact  as  she  has  been  to  this, 
which  she  is  now  endeavoring  to  avoid. 

In  addition  to  which,  the  objects  and  interests  of  South  Carolina,  as 
she  conceives  them,  are  essentially  at  variance  with  those  of  Virginia. 
This  state  will  never  agree  to  engage  in  a  trade  that  has  been  held  as 


APPENDIX.  237 

piratical  by  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  if  not,  South  Carolina  does  not 
desire  our  company,  and  would  get  rid  of  us  as  soon  as  possible. 

What  may  be  the  ultimate  condition  of  things  I  do  not  pretend  to  be 
prophetic  enough  to  foretell,  but  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  likelihood 
that  any  other  state  will  go  out  as  South  Carolina  proposes  to  do,  in  a 
sort  of  sky-rocket  blaze.  The  rest  will  be  disposed  to  consider  matters 
more  carefully,  and  will  take  time  for  consideration  and  reflection,  during 
which  much  may,  and  I  think  will  be  done  to  reconcile  existing  differ 
ences. 

The  Northern  party  has  succeeded  to  power  ^  they  are,  therefore,  deep 
ly  interested,  in  a  political  sense,  in  keeping  the  Union  together,  and 
can  well  afford  to  do  all  that  we  have  a  right  to  demand  under  the  Con 
stitution  ;  and  if  they  do  not,  we  may  be  able  to  accomplish  all  that  is  es 
sential  through  the  action  of  Congress. 

Now,  as  you  say  to  me,  "sit  down  side  by  side  with  me,"  and  let  us 
talk  the  matter  over.  Suppose  the  North  should  agree  to  repeal  all  their 
obnoxious  legislation  which  has  for  its  object  the  obstruction  of  the  exe 
cution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  (which  they  ought  not  to  hestitate  to 
do  even  if  no  Union  were  at  stake),  and  if  not,  suppose  Congress  should 
so  modify  that  law  as  to  relieve  it  of  that  obnoxious  feature  to  which  I  re 
ferred  in  my  Lynchburg  speech,  and  thereby  add  to  rather  than  impair 
its  efficiency,  and  accompany  that  legislation  with  a  bill  declaring  it  to 
be  a  felony  of  the  highest  grade,  and  subject  to  heavy  penalties  by  fine 
and  imprisonment,  to  rescue,  or  attempt  to  rescue,  a  slave  in  custody  of 
the  officer,  or  after  he  had  been  restored  to  his  master,  and  making  the 
general  government  responsible  for  the  value  of  the  slave  that  may  be 
rescued,  and  holding  it  as  a  charge  against  the  state  that  shall  permit 
this  law  to  be  thus  violated  within  its  territories ;  then  suppose,  in  ref 
erence  to  the  territories,  there  should  be  wisdom  and  patriotism  enough 
in  both  sections  of  the  country  to  restore  matters  to  the  condition  they 
occupied  prior  to  1854  by  re-establishing  the  Missouri  Compromise  line; 
don't  you  think,  my  good  friend,  you  could  then  be  persuaded  to  agree 
that  all  the  Southern  States,  except  South  Carolina,  would  agree,  even 
without  the  restoration  of  the  Missouri  line,  to  remain  a  little  longer  in 
the  Union,  although  South  Carolina  might  have  assumed  that  she  was 
too  good,  and  high-toned,  and  chivalric  to  remain  where  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  and  Missouri  would  be 
proud  to  stay  ?  and  if  South  Carolina  should  be  deaf  to  all  remonstran 
ces,  and  insist  that  she  would  stay  out  after  that,  don't  you  think  she 


238  APPENDIX. 

ought  to  be  left  to  share  the  fate  she  had  invited,  and  coveted,  and  pro 
voked  ? 

All  this,  I  have  strong  hope,  may  be  accomplished  if  time— reasonable 
time — is  allowed,  a  suitable  spirit  is  adopted,  and  a  proper  course  is  pur 
sued  ;  but  I  do  not  think  it  can  be  done  by  the  system  of  bullying  and 
bravado  that  many  of  our  leading  men  seem  to  have  a  decided  passion 
for.  The  North  and  the  South  are  equally  brave.  A  brave  people,  like 
a  brave  man,  will  always  despise  and  defy  a  bully,  and  there  has  been  too 
much  of  that  game  played  on  both  sides. 

I  believe  in  the  patriotism  of  reflecting  men  of  all  parties  and  of  both 
sections,  and  I  am  confident  in  the  belief  that  each  will,  in  the  spirit  that 
animated  our  fathers  for  the  sake  of  the  Union,  surrender  much  that  has 
been  claimed  on  both  sides  before  they  will  pull  down  this  great  Temple 
of  Liberty  on  their  own  heads. 

I  will  not  stop  to  inquire  which  section  would  suffer  most  from  a  rup 
ture  of  the  Union,  because  I  do  not  calculate  its  value  by  dollars  and 
cents;  it  is  enough  for  me  to  know  that  both  would  sustain  a  calamity 
that  neither  time,  nor  labor,  nor  money  could  repair.  But  to  accomplish 
any  thing,  reason  and  persuasion  must  take  the  place  of  threats  and 
taunts,  and  criminations  and  recriminations.  How  all  this  is  to  be 
brought  about  is  another  question,  which  I  leave  to  those  who  arc  in  pow 
er  to  bring  about ;  but  I  have  an  abiding  trust  and  confidence  in  the 
same  good  Spirit  that  has  directed  us  through  every  trying  difficulty, 
that  the  way  will  be  prepared  to  save  the  great,  glorious,  thrice-blessed, 
and  God-like  work  of  our  fathers  to  us,  and  to  our  children,  and  to  our 
children's  children. 

One  thing,  my  friend,  you  may  be  assured  of,  that  when  the  necessity 
shall  arise  for  Virginia  to  take  up  arms  against  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  she  will  require  no  other  state  to  set  her  an  example  of 
what  it  becomes  her  honor  to  do  ;  but  she  will  neither  be  "hitched  on"  nor 
"  dragged  into11  any  rebellious  or  treasonable  movements  by  the  most 
spoiled  child  in  the  whole  family.  Virginia  made  the  Union  :  it  is 
chiefly  the  work  of  the  hands  of  her  children,  and  she  will  adhere  to, 
abide  in,  protect,  and  preserve  it. 

One  word  more.  Are  we  to  have  a  State  Convention  ?  I  hope  not ; 
there  is  no  sufficient  reason  for  a  convention ;  the  public  mind  is  not  in 
a  condition  for  a  convention  ;  it  is  in  too  excited  a  state  for  such  deliber 
ation  as  the -public  interests  demand  (and  artful  means  have  been  used  to 
make  it  so),  and  the  state  of  your  own  mind  serves  as  evidence  of  that  fact. 


APPENDIX.  239 

Men  are  not  made  wiser  or  more  temperate  from  being  sent  into  a  con 
vention  than  to  any  other  deliberative  body  such  as  Congress  or  the  Leg 
islature,  nor  have  we  any  reason  to  suppose,  when  party  spirit  runs  as  high 
as  it  does  now,  that  wiser  and  better  men  would  be  selected  for  such  a 
place  and  for  such  a  purpose ;  and  would  you  ordinarily  trust,  or  do  you 
know  any  body  who  would  be  willing  to  trust  the  existence  or  destruction 
of  this  national  government  of  ours  to  the  hands  of  those  who  fill  either 
of  these  departments  ?  The  world  was  not  made  in  an  hour,  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  destroyed  in  a  day.  There  is  no  occasion  for  such  remarka 
ble  haste.  Nobody  proposes  to  fire  our  dwellings  or  steal  our  substance 
away  from  us;  there  is  plenty  of  time  before  us.  Let  us,  then,  be  pa 
tient,  be  wise,  be  moderate  ;  give  time  for  the  passions  excited  by  the  late 
election  and  the  scenes  that  now  surround  us  to  calm  down.  Let  us  act 
like  men,  and  not  like  children  ;  and,  above  all,  let  us  take  time  to  ascer 
tain  facts,  and  not  be  led  away  from  the  path  of  duty  and  honor  by  the  ten 
thousand  misrepresentations  that  are  scattered  broadcast  over  the  coun 
try  for  the  purpose  of  inflaming  popular  passion. 

It  takes  a  great  while  to  build  up  a  government,  and  it  requires  a  vast 
deal  of  labor,  reflection,  foresight,  knowledge,  wisdom,  and  experience  to 
form  a  government  that  will  prove  a  satisfactory  substitute  for  the  ono 
you  propose  to  discard.  Do  you  feel  sure  that  the  state  is  prepared  at  a 
moment's  notice  to  bring  all  these  various  and  essential  elements  to  bear 
upon  this  subject  ?  If  you  are,  I  am  not ;  and  as  there  is  less  danger  to 
be  apprehended  from  cautious  deliberation  than  from  impetuous  haste,  I 
beg  you  to  unite  with  me  in  urging  the  people  of  Virginia  not  to  be  in 
too  great  a  hurry  to  destroy  or  hazard  the  loss  of  what  all  the  world  will 
never  be  able  to  give  them  again. 

I  am  your  obedient  servant  and  friend,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

There  were  very  few  papers  at  this  time  in  the  South  whose  columns 
were  open  to  me  ;  but  the  above  correspondence  having  been  published  in 
the  Alexandria  Gazette,  and  as  that  paper  accompanied  its  publication 
with  a  desire  that  the  questions  involved  should  be  freely  discussed,  in 
the  month  of  December  I  addressed  to  that  paper  the  following  commu 
nication  : 

Letter  from  Hon.  John  M.  Botts. 
To  the  Editors  of  the  Alexandria  Gazette : 
If  I  am  not  mistaken,  you  have  invited  a  discussion  of  the  questions  in- 


240  APPENDIX. 

volvcd  in  the  present  difficulties  under  which  the  country  is  laboring 
through  your  columns,  and  especially  what  part  it  becomes  our  own  state 
to  take,  and  I  avail  myself  of  the  privilege  extended  by  submitting  for 
reflection  the  following  views  : 

I  have  observed  that  in  several  of  the  county  meetings  that  have  been 
held,  resolutions  have  been  offered  and  adopted  declaring  that  the  inter 
ests  of  Virginia  and  South  Carolina  are  one  and  the  same,  and  that  we 
must  attach  our  fortunes  to  hers,  no  matter  what  may  occur ;  that  there 
is  no  power  to  coerce  a  seceding  state ;  and  the  Clarke  County  resolu 
tions  declare  that  the  government  has  no  right  to  collect  revenues  in  a 
state  that  has  withdrawn  from  the  Union. 

First,  then,  let  me  ask,  in  what  respect  are  the  interests  of  Virginia 
identified  with  those  of  South  Carolina  ?  Politically  they  are  identified, 
because  both  are  intensely  Democratic,  and  intensely  tyrannical  to  the 
minorities  in  their  respective  localities  ;  but  socially  and  commercially,  it 
seems  to  me,  we  are  as  far  apart  as  the  poles.  There  is  no  more  social  or 
commercial  intercourse  between  South  Carolina  and  Virginia  than  there 
is  between  Canada  and  Mexico.  "We  buy  nothing  from  her,  and  she 
buys  nothing  from  us.  We  sell  her  nothing,  and  she  sells  nothing  to  us, 
for  not  even  those  who  trade  in  slaves  deal  with  South  Carolina  to  any 
extent,  for  their  market  is  farther  south ;  while  in  some  respects  the  pur 
poses  and  interests  of  South  Carolina,  as  she  conceives  them,  are  essen 
tially  opposed  to  those  of  Virginia.  True,  South  Carolina  is  a  slave  state, 
but  so  is  Maryland,  and  so  is  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  and 
Missouri ;  and  upon  that  ground  we  are  far  more  closely  and  intimately 
connected  with  the  conservative  Border  States  than  we  are  with  South 
Carolina,  and  for  all  other  purposes  of  commerce  we  do  not  know  her. 
And  let  me  ask,  is  it  wise  on  the  part  of  the  slaveholding  population  of 
Virginia  to  "hitch  on"  to  South  Carolina  for  the  sake  of  the  slave-trade, 
and  involve  the  state  in  rebellion  and  civil  war,  and  then  call  upon  the 
vast  preponderance  of  the  non-slaveholding  portion  of  our  people  to  come 
forward  and  do  the  fighting  with  the  general  government  for  the  exclusive 
benefit  of  the  holders  of  and  dealers  in  slaves  ? 

What  will  be  our  condition  if  we  secede  ?  For  a  single  item  of  the  ac 
count  take  the  following :  The  debt  and  liabilities  of  the  state  do  not  fall 
far  short  of  $45,000,000,  most  of  which  has  been  expended  in  the  cause 
of  internal  improvements ;  our  commerce  is  now  with  the  North,  but  our 
costly  lines  of  improvement  are  aiming  at  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  great  West.  If  we  secede,  non-intercourse  follows,  certainly  to  a 


APPENDIX.  241 

large  extent.  What  then  becomes  of  our  improvements — the  James  Riv 
er  and  Kanawha  Canal,  the  Central  Railroad,  etc.  ?  Trade  and  travel 
will  all  be  suspended ;  the  superstructures  of  your  roads  all  fall  into  de 
cay;  the  sills  on  which  the  rails  themselves  wear  away  with  rust  from 
disuse,  and  then  comes  the  payment  of  the  debt,  $45,000,000,  an  enor 
mous  system  of  taxation  without  one  other  source  of  revenue ;  and  this 
not  only  in  addition  to  our  ordinary  expenses  of  government,  but  with  the 
additional  necessary  expense  of  keeping  up  an  army  and  navy  for  the 
general  defense  and  protection  of  our  people  and  property.  Happy  will 
that  man  be  who  has  no  property  with  which  he  can  be  troubled  or  taxed. 

But  it  is  said,  we  should  resist  any  attempt  to  coerce  a  seceding  state. 
God  forbid  there  should  be  necessity  for  using  force,  and  I  am  not  one 
of  those  who  believe  it  will  be  necessary  to  resort  to  force  on  the  part  of 
the  general  government,  unless  it  be  in  self-defense ;  but  are  you  pre 
pared  to  say  that  you  value  so  lightly  the  deeds  of  our  Revolutionary 
sires  that,  if  need  be,  you  would  not  strike  one  blow  to  preserve  what  they 
went  through  a  seven  years'  war  of  toil  and  suffering,  privation  and  sacri 
fice,  to  establish?  May  my  tongue  be  blistered,  my  arm  withered,  and 
my  name  be  obliterated  from  the  record,  when  I  take  such  ground  as  this 
for  no  better  reason  than  now  exists  for  deserting  the  Union. 

How  do  you  propose  to  resist  ?  If  by  remonstrance,  that  is  all  well 
enough ;  but  if  by  force,  then  you  involve  yourself  in  civil  war,  and  bring 
all  its  horrors  on  your  own  state,  and  transfer  the  scene  of  war  from 
South  Carolina,  that  has  offended,  to  the  territory  of  Virginia,  that  has 
not  offended, 

We  can  be  engaged  in  no  civil  war,  unless  of  our  own  accord  we  seek 
or  invite  it,  or,  rather,  I  should  say,  begin  it.  For  one,  I  am  willing  to 
fight  the  battles  of  Virginia  in  a  just  cause,  but  I  am  not  willing  to  fight 
the  battles  of  South  Carolina  in  a  bad  cause ;  and  if  others  are,  then  we 
have  reached  the  point  where  we  must  separate  and  part  company. 

In  this  connection,  without  offense,  let  me  ask  a  few  plain  questions, 
which  I  hope  some  of  those  entertaining  extreme  opinions  will  answer  if 
they  can. 

But  let  me  say  in  advance  that  I  am  one  of  those  who  have  heretofore 
opposed  the  adoption  of  all  platforms  in  Presidential  elections,  as  being 
worthless  at  best,  but,  in  the  general,  calculated  and  designed  to  perpetu 
ate  a  fraud  and  a  cheat  upon  the  people ;  nevertheless,  I  did  believe  that 
if  one  could  be  adopted  which  could  not  be  misinterpreted,  and  respect 
ing  which  no  fraud  could  be  practiced,  it  was  that  platform  adopted  by 

L 


242  APPENDIX. 

the  Convention  in  Baltimore  that  nominated  Messrs.  Bell  and  Everett, 
to  \yit,  "  The  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Enforcement  of  the  Laws." 
More  especially  when,  at  the  time  of  its  adoption,  disunion  and  resistance 
to  the  laws  were  threatened  on  all  sides  if  a  Republican  candidate  should 
be  elected  ;  and  still  more  especially,  when  it  was  known  that  each  of  the 
candidates  selected  to  be  put  on  that  platform  had  voted  in  1833  for  the 
Force  Bill,  thus  recognizing  the  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  Federal 
Executive  to  enforce  the  execution  of  all  laws  even  in  a  state  that,  by  or 
dinance  in  convention,  had  declared  herself  out*  of  the  Union.  Now, 
then,  for  the  questions  I  propose. 

Question  1st. — Did  they  approve  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  admin 
istration  when  it  sent  Federal  troops  into  Boston  to  enforce  the  execu 
tion  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  in  the  case  of  Anthony  Burns  ? 

Question  2d.  — Are  they  now  in  favor  of  all  the  powers  of  the  govern 
ment  being  executed  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  provisions  of  that 
law? 

Question  3d. — Are  they  in  favor  of  the  equality  of  the  states?  And 
if  these  questions  are  answered  in  the  affirmative,  as  I  presume  they  will 
be,  I  put  as 

Question  4th. — How,  and  upon  what  principle  do  they  make  the  dis 
tinction  between  executing  one  law  ly  force  in  Massachusetts,  and  at  the 
same  time  propose  to  incur  the  penalty  of  treason,  and  introduce  civil 
war  into  our  midst,  by  resisting  the  same  process  for  the  execution  of 
other  laws  in  South  Carolina  ? 

And  I  will  tell  them  in  advance  that  it  will  not  do  for  them  to  put 
themselves  on  the  ground  assumed  by  some,  that  there  is  a  difference 
between  using  force  in  a  state  that  has  declared  herself  out  of  the  Union 
and  one  that  has  taken  no  such  ground ;  because  those  of  our  party  who 
resist  the  right  of  coercion  utterly  and  wholly  deny  that  any  state  has  the 
right  to  declare  herself  out  of  the  Union  except  on  the  ground  of  revolu 
tion  ;  and  I  suppose  none  will  deny  the  right  of  any  and  all  governments 
to  put  down  revolutions,  and  that,  if  not  successful,  that  revolution  is 
treason. 

Question  5th. — Did  not  those  who  contemplated  resistance  to  the  au 
thorities  of  the  general  goATernment,  if  it  should  find  it  necessary  to  resort 
to  force  in  order  to  execute  the  laws,  adopt  the  platform  of  our  party,  to 
gether  with  the  candidates  who  planted  themselves  on  that  platform,  in 
good  faith,  and  with  an  honest  purpose  to  act  in  accordance  with  its  pro 
fessions  ? 


APPENDIX.  243 

Question  6th. — Did  not  they  recommend  to  the  people  of  this  state  the 
support  of  our  candidates  upon  the  ground  of  their  superior  nationality, 
because  they  were  known  to  be  in  favor  of  the  preservation  of  the  Union, 
the  vindication  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws? 

Question  7th. — If  they  were  for  six  months  engaged  in  urging  the  peo 
ple  of  Virginia  to  the  support  of  this  platform  and  its  candidates,  will 
they  inform  me  now  what  Union  it  was  they  were  for  preserving,  what 
Constitution  it  was  they  were  for  vindicating,  and  what  laws  they  were  for 
enforcing  ? 

Question  8th. — According  to  their  understanding,  was  our  platform 
also  a  delusion  and  a  cheat ;  or  did  we  not  earnestly  and  honestly  pledge 
ourselves  to  each  other  and  to  the  world  that  we  would  contend  to  the 
last  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  Union  of  the  thirty-three  states  composing 
the  confederacy  which  was  formed  by  our  fathers?  Was  it  not  the  su 
premacy  of  the  Constitution  which  authorizes  the  use  of  force  to  execute 
the  laws,  suppress  insurrection,  and  repel  invasion  ?  And  was  it  not  the 
enforcement  of  all  laws  upon  the  statute-book,  or  was  it  only  certain  se 
lected  laws  in  certain  localities  that  they  were  for  enforcing  ? 

Question  9th. — If  it  was  their  intention  to  execute  such  laws  only  in 
the  Southern  States  as  Southern  interests  might  demand,  do  you  think  it 
was  in  accordance  with  principles  of  fairness  and  common  honesty  that 
they  should  have  asked  our  friends  at  the  North  to  unite  with  us  on  the 
general  platform  without  informing  them  that  they  were  for  using  force 
to  execute  the  laws  among  them,  but  that  they  should  not  be  allowed  to 
use  force  to  execute  the  laws  among  ourselves  ? 

Question  10th. — After  having  prevailed  on  seventy-four  thousand  five 
hundred  and  twenty-four  voters  of  Virginia  to  stand  by  them  in  their 
recommendation  to  uphold  the  Union,  to  protect  the  Constitution,  and  to 
enforce  the  laws,  and  since  by  their  votes  the  state  has  been  carried  for 
John  Bell  and  Edward  Everett,  do  you  think  they  are  at  liberty  now  to 
abandon  these  seventy-four  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-four  men, 
a  very  large  majority  of  whom  are  not  slaveholders,  and  tell  them  that 
the  Union  which  our  fathers  established  is  not  worth  contending  for; 
that  the  Constitution  is  a  toy  and  a  plaything  for  the  sport  of  folly,  and 
passion,  and  resentment ;  and  that  the  laws  must  not  be  enforced  upon 
any  Southern  State  that  may  choose  to  set  itself  up  in  defiance  of  all 
laws  and  all  constitutional  authority? 

Question  llth. — Do  you  think  they  have  a  right  now  to  plunge  this 
state  into  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war,  and  involve  the  people  of  Virginia 


244  APPENDIX. 

in  the  crime  of  treason,  by  espousing  the  cause  of  South  Carolina,  that  is 
in  a  state  of  rebellion  against  the  general  government,  and  thereby  trans 
fer  the  battle-ground  from  South  Carolina  to  Virginia,  and  then  call  upon 
the  non-slaveholding  population  of  the  state  to  do  all  the  fighting  for 
slaveholding  sympathizers  only,  when  their  slave  property  is  not  endan 
gered  ?  And  do  you  not  think  the  experiment  is  a  hazardous  one  to  the 
slaveholding  interests  of  this  state  ? 

Question  12th. — Do  you  not  think,  as  South  Carolina  is  the  only  state 
that  has  taken  steps  from  which  war  is  likely  to  result,  that  hers  is  the 
soil  upon  which  the  war  (if  any  comes)  should  be  conducted,  and  that  our 
women  and  children  should  not  be  subjected  to  the  horrors  that  will  at 
tend  it,  by  transferring  the  scene  from  the  rice  and  cotton  fields  of  that 
state  to  the  hearth-stones  of  Virginia? 

Question  13th. — In  this  view  of  the  subject,  do  you  not  think  it  would 
be  more  becoming  and  more  chivalric  on  the  part  of  those  who  think 
South  Carolina  is  justified  in  her  present  position,  and  who  recommend 
resistance  to  the  general  government  if  the  President  of  the  United  States 
should  feel  that  the  obligations  of  his  oath  required  him  to  ' '  execute  the 
laws"  and  ''suppress  insurrections,"  should  volunteer  their  services  to 
South  Carolina,  go  down  there,  and  make  that  the  scene  of  their  heroism 
and  renown,  instead  of  stirring  up  the  worst  passions  of  our  nature,  and 
dragging  those  into  the  difficulty  who  do  not  believe  South  Carolina  is 
justified  in  what  she  has  done,  and  who  have  no  sympathy  with  the  hot 
haste  with  which  she  has  acted,  and  the  insulting  manner  in  which  she 
has  treated  Virginia  ? 

Question  14th. — As  far  as  South  Carolina  can  make  herself  so,  is  she 
not  now  as  foreign  to  us  as  the  people  of  Naples  or  the  people  of  Kome? 
And  if  there  are  sympathizers  here  of  the  Pope  on  the  one  hand,  or  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  or  Garibaldi  on  the  other,  who  wish  to  take  a  part  in 
the  Italian  War,  ought  they  not  to  assume  the  responsibility,  and  should 
they  not  seek  the  plains  of  Italy  for  a  display  of  their  valor,  and  not  strive 
to  involve  their  own  country  ? 

Question  15th. — Finally,  do  you  think  they  have  a  right  to  find  fault 
with  and  complain  of  us,  who  stood  by  them  in  the  late  contest  in  favor 
of  "the  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Enforcement  of  the  Laws," 
and  still  stand  faithful  to  our  professions,  and  because  we  can  not  stultify 
ourselves,  as  we  think  we  should,  by  now  declaring  that  we  will  let  the 
Union  slide,  the  Constitution  be  trodden  down,  and.  the  laws  be  violated 
with  impunity? 


APPENDIX.  245 

It  matters  not  what  you  think  or  what  I  think ;  it  matters  not  whether 
it  ought  or  ought  not  to  be  so ;  the  man  who  thinks  this  Union  can  be 
broken  up  in  peace  knows  nothing  of  the  nature  of  our  institutions,  and 
nothing  of  the  power  with  which  this  government  is  clothed  by  the  Con 
stitution.  It  matters  little  where  your  sympathies  may  lead  you,  or  mine 
may  lead  me ;  it  matters  not  how  much  we  may  deprecate  and  deplore 
it,  whenever  you  have  a  President  "of  the  United  States  who  feels  the 
weight  of  his  obligation  to  the  country  South  Carolina  will  submit  to 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  there  will  be  war  ;  because  the  Constitu 
tion  not  only  authorizes  it,  but  demands  it ;  it  does  not  leave  it  to  the  dis 
cretion  of  the  President,  but  requires  him  to  take  an  oath  before  God  that 
he  .will,  "  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Con 
stitution!"  and  that  Constitution  declares  that  the  President  "shall  take 
care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,"  and  for  that  purpose  gives  the 
control  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  provides  for  the  calling  forth  the  mil 
itia  to  enable  him  to  execute  he  laws;  and,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  how 
can  he  omit  this  plain  paramount  duty  without  having  the  high  and  in 
famous  crime  of  perjury  resting  on  his  soul  ?  And  the  same  Constitution 
declares  that  "treason  (which  is  punishable  by  death)  shall  consist  in 
levying  war  against  the  United  States,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  or  in 
giving  than  aid  or  comfort."  I  beseech  the  people  of  Virginia  not  to  be 
led  into  error  by  ignorant  demagogues  as  to  the  nature  of  our  govern 
ment,  nor  yet  to  judge  of  its  powers  by  the  imbecility  of  its  present  rulers. 

"One  murder  makes  a  villain,  millions  a  hero,"  says  the  poet;  this 
may  be  true  in  poetry,  but  it  is  not  true  in  law,  unless  they  have  the 
power  to  overcome  all  opposition  that  may  be  made  to  them.  Do  not 
judge  of  what  will  be  the  condition  of  the  public  mind  when  this  secession 
fever,  which  is  now  an  epidemic,  passes  off,  and  when  the  question  comes 
to  be  determined  by  the  courts,  from  the  frenzied  state  in  which  it  is  now 
found.  Temper,  and  passion,  and  prejudice  must  sooner  or  later  give 
way  to  reason,  to  common  sense,  and  supremacy  of  law ;  and  then  the 
day  of  reckoning  will  come ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  let  those  who  would 
give  aid  and  comfort  to  South  Carolina  in  her  position  of  hostility  to  the 
United  States,  let  those  who  are  solicitous  to  connect  their  fate  with  that 
of  the  unfortunate  and  misguided  State  of  South  Carolina  go  down 
among  them,  and  take  the  responsibilily  on  their  own  shoulders,  and 
leave  the  Constitution-loving  and  law-abiding  men,  women,  and  children 
of  Virginia  in  the  enjoyment  of  peace,  and  in  the  discharge  of  their  du 
ties  to  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Enforcement  of  the  Laws. 


246  APPENDIX. 

I  concede  that  no  greater  calamity  can  befall  any  people  than  that  of  a 
war  among  themselves ;  and  if  I  could  believe  it  likely  that  the  Union 
could  be  broken  into  fragments  without  having  constant  and  intermina 
ble  forays  between  the  Slave  and  Free  States,  I  might  possibly  bring  my 
mind  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  better  to  give  up  the  Union  than 
have  war  between  the  general  government  and  the  Southern  or  Cotton 
States ;  but  there  lies  the  question,  'are  we  not  to  have  the  Union  entire, 
or  is  there  not  to  be  war  of  some  description  ?  It  is  my  belief  that  one 
or  the  other  is  unavoidable ;  and  if  so,  which  is  the  better  and  the  wiser 
course  to  adopt — to  have  a  war  that  will  be  of  short  duration,  or  one  that 
is  to  be  perpetual  and  interminable,  until  the  substance  of  all  parties  is 
wasted  away  ? 

But  let  us  estimate,  as  wise  men  should  and  will,  all  the  cost  in  ad 
vance,  and  calculate  the  probable  result.  Suppose  the  fifteen  Slave  States 
should  secede,  what  are  our  means  or  our  powers  of  resistance  or  defense? 
Can  any  state  live  without  commerce  ?  Suppose  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  which  will  assuredly  be  in  possession  of  the  navy,  should 
station  a  single  frigate  at  the  Capes  of  Virginia,  is  not  the  commerce  of 
Virginia  and  Maryland  effectually  blocked  up  ?  then  one  to  Charleston, 
another  to  Savannah,  another  to  the  Bay  of  Mobile,  and  still  another  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  leaving  the  Free  States  on  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Rivers  with  the  facilities  of  railroad,  lake,  and  canal  commu 
nication  with  New  York ;  I  simply  inquire,  what  would  be  our  condition  ? 
Where  is  our  navy  to  drive  them  off?  What  would  become  of  all  the 
productions  of  the  South  —  the  cotton,  rice,  sugar,  flour,  tobacco,  etc.  ? 
Would  we  not  be  checkmated  and  conquered  without  the  power  to  strike 
a  blow?  Do  the  impetuous  secessionists  of  Virginia  stop  long  enough  to 
reflect  upon  such  a  condition  of  things?  or  do  the  sober-minded,  reflect 
ing  men  of  the  state  think  they  are  not  worthy  of  consideration  ?  If  it 
is  deemed  necessary  for  our  honor  and  safety  to  leave  the  Union,  let  us 
take  time  to  prepare  for  what  will  inevitably  follow.  If  the  Cotton  States 
can  establish  their  independence,  let  them  do  it,  and  fix  their  form  of 
government ;  then,  if  we  like  it  better  than  our  own,  we  can  unite  with 
them,  but  let  us  not  be  guilty  of  the  madness  of  burning  down  the  house 
in  which  we  live  until  we  are  sure  of  removing  to  a  better  one. 

As  it  is,  I  am  clearly  of  opinion  that  the  true  policy  of  Virginia  is  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  controversy  that  South  Carolina  has  chosen 
to  wage  with  the  general  government,  but  let  her  attend  to  her  own  busi 
ness  and  we  attend  to  ours,  and  remain  in  the  Union  as  long  as  it  can 


APPENDIX.  247 

be  done  with  safety  and  honor  to  the  state ;  and  when  these  can  no  longer 
be  retained  in  the  Union,  then  let  us  go  out  like  men,  and,  asserting  the 
broad  right  of  revolution,  let  us  all  be  united,  and  shrink  from  no  conse 
quences  that  may  follow. 

I  am  respectfully  yours,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

I  must  confess  here  to  an  error  in  my  calculation.  As  no  instance  in 
history  could  be  found  in  which  a  gigantic  war  was  carried  on  for  any 
length  of  time  without  a  dollar  of  money,  and  without  credit  in  any  mark 
et  in  the  world,  so  I  never  dreamed  that  it  could  be  done  here  to  the  ex 
tent  it  has  been.  I  had  no  conception  then  that  the  government  was  to 
issue  its  hundreds  of  thousands  of  millions  of  Treasury-notes,  payable  six 
months,  and  two  years  after  the  happening  of  an  event  which  was  sure 
never  to  take  place,  and  that  any  respectable  portion  of  the  people  could 
be  made  to  believe  it  was  as  good  or  better  than  gold,  and  that  the  few 
who  had  wisdom  enough  to  know  that  it  could  never  be  worth  a  farthing, 
and  refused  to  take  it  in  exchange  for  their  labor  or  produce,  would  have 
their  property  seized  by  the  government  for  its  own  use,  and  the  party 
thrown  into  prison  for  disloyalty.  But  all  this  I  have  seen  now,  and 
shall  be  better  posted  hereafter  if  another  rebellion  and  civil  war  shall 
come  in  my  time,  which  I  hardly  expect  to  see,  for  I  think  the  present 
generation  and  several  others  that  will  follow  it  will  be  satisfied  with  the 
experience  they  have  had  in  this ;  but  it  may  be  of  some  service  to  future 
generations  to  know  what  may  happen  under  the  administration  of  those 
who  go  into  rebellion  simply  for  the  purpose,  as  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  ac 
knowledged  in  his  interview  with  the  two  quasi-commissioners  of  peace, 
Messrs.  Jacques  and  Kirke,  as  published  in  Mr.  Davis's  organ  and  other 
Richmond  papers  without  denial  or  contradiction,  solely  to  "get  rid  of 
majorities ;"  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  minority,  or  to  come  exactly  at 
what  he  meant,  that  the  selfish  politicians  and  greedy  office-holders  should 
rule  and  control  the  people  with  the  iron  hand  of  a  detestable  despotism. 

My  next  effort  was  an  appeal  to  the  moderation,  forbearance,  and  mag 
nanimity  of  the  North,  made  under  a  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  old 
proverb,  that  "it  is  better  to  humor  a  fool  than  encounter  his  wrath  ;"  for 
I  found  the  whole  South  getting  to  be,  not  simply  foolish,  but  insane  upon 
this  question  of  secession ;  and,  in  reply  to  an  invitation  to  a  dinner  at 
the  Astor  House,  New  York,  given  by  the  "New  England  Society"  in 
commemoration  of  the  landing  of  the  New  England  Pilgrims,  I  made  this 
appeal ;  but  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed  unfortunately  did  not  look  at 


948  APPENDIX. 

the  question  in  all  its  magnitude — they  did  not  attach  sufficient  import 
ance  to  the  events  then  in  progress.  Perhaps  they  would  have  thought 
and  acted  otherwise  if  they  had  been  located  where  I  was,  and  could  have 
foreseen  what  has  followed,  as  I  thought  I  did  at  the  time. 

MR.  BOTTS'S   NOMINATION   FOR  THE    STATE   CONVENTION 

A  convention  was  called  by  the  State  Legislature,  which  itself  had  been 
convened  in  extra  session  by  Governor  Letcher.  Richmond  was  entitled 
to  three  representatives.  A  number  of  the  Union  men  called  on  me  in 
person  to  become  a  candidate,  to  which  I  gave  my  assent.  They  asked 
who  I  could  recommend  to  be  associated  with  me.  I  named  Mr.  William 
H.  M'Farland,  with  whom  I  was  not  then  on  speaking  terms,  and  Mr. 
Marmaduke  Johnson,  not  so  much  because  he  was  my  friend  as  that  he 
and  Mr.  M'Earland  had,  at  the  dinner  given  to  the  Presidential  Electors 
a  short  time  before,  given,  as  I  thought,  the  most  unmistakable  evidence 
of  a  steadfast  and  reliable  devotion  to  the  Union  and  the  platform  upon 
which  we  had  carried  the*  state  for  John  Bell.  Accordingly  a  card  was  ad 
dressed  to  the  three  gentlemen  thus  indicated,  and  I  extract  the  following 
from  my  response.  The  other  two  gentlemen  simply  accepted.  I  was 
defeated ;  to  accomplish  which,  very  large  sums  of  money  were  said  to 
have  been  and,  no  doubt,  were  subscribed.  Mr.  George  W.  Randolph, 
late  Secretary  of  War,  beat  me,  I  think,  some  two  hundred  and  odd  votes, 
Ms  friends  swapping  off  votes  with  the  peculiar  friends  of  Messrs.  M'Far 
land  and  Johnson.  All  this  is  of  no  other  consequence  now  than  to  show 
how  matters  were  worked  to  bring  about  my  defeat.  Mr.  M'Farland  and 
Mr.  Johnson  were  elected,  as  I  have  said,  and  both  afterward  voted  for 
the  Ordinance  of  Secession. 

The  following  is  from  my  card  in  the  Richmond  Whig  of  January  25, 
1861: 

"  The  absence  of  all  right  on  the  part  of  one  state  to  separate  herself 
from  the  other  thirty-two,  when  no  pretense  is  set  up  that  there  is  a  cor 
relative  right  on  the  part  of  the  thirty-two  to  separate  themselves  from  the 
one,  is,  to  my  mind,  an  incomprehensible  logical  absurdity,  that  I  have  al 
ready  argued  in  your  presence  during  the  late  canvass,  and  which  need  not 
be  repeated  here. 

"That  the  time  has  arrived  when  the  public  voice  and,  indeed,  the  pub 
lic  welfare,  demands  that  there  shall  be  a  satisfactory  and  final  adjustment 
of  all  questions  of  discord  between  the  two  sections  of  the  country,  in  or 
der  that  we  may  live  in  peace  hereafter,  no  one  will  dispute.  The  ques- 


APPENDIX.  249 

tion  is,  what  ought  to  be  satisfactory  to  us,  the  Southern  section,  consti 
tuting  as  we  do  the  complaining  party  in  the  case  ? 

"For  myself,  I  am  prepared  to  insist  upon  every  jot  or  tittle  of  right 
that  the  security  or  the  honor  of  Virginia  will  entitle  her  to  claim  under 
the  Constitution  as  it  is.  I  am  willing  to  vote  for  and  take  as  much  more 
as  the  North  may  be  disposed  to  yield.  If  1  have  not  heretofore  claimed 
as  much  as  others,  it  was  not  because  I  was  unwilling  they  should  obtain 
and  enjoy  it,  but  because  I  did  not  believe  that  it  would  be  granted,  or 
that  we  were  entitled  to  demand  it  as  of  right,  and  therefore  I  never  have, 
and  never  will  consent  to  make  the  existence  or  the  destruction  of  this 
government  dependent  upon  any  abstract  or  impracticable  question  that 
may  or  may  not  arise  outside  of  the  Constitution,  such  as  is  now  proposed, 
of  guaranteeing  slavery  by  constitutional  amendment  in  all  territories 
hereafter  to  be  acquired  south  of  3G°  30',  whether  in  Mexico,  South  Amer 
ica,  or  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

'  "There  is  nothing  that  I  CAN  do  that  I  will  not  do  to  avert  the  utter 
desolation  that  will  assuredly  follow  in  the  train  of  disunion,  rebellion,  and 
civil  war.  I  will  go  as  far  as  any  man  alive  will  or  can  go  to  settle,  by 
compromise  and  conciliation,  every  question  of  disturbance  in  our  nation 
al  councils.  I  am  even  free  to  say  that  there  is  no  compromise  that  has 
been  or  can  be  proposed  that  will  prove  satisfactory  to  the  North  and  South 
and  restore  harmony  to  the  country,  that  will  not  meet  with  my  cordial 
support,  and,  except  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  I  would  agree  never  to  in 
quire  what  compromise  had  been  adopted,  for  I  have  no  interests  in  this 
government  that  are  not  identified  with  those  around  me,  and  whatever 
will  satisfy  them  will  satisfy  me.  I  do  not  set  myself  up  as  a  maker  of 
laws  or  a  maker  of  constitutions,  to  which  all  others  must  bend  and  yield  ; 
nevertheless,  I  am  not  without  my  own  views  as  to  the  proper  mode  of  ad 
justment  of  all  questions  of  constitutional  interpretation,  which  could  be 
done  by  maldng  a  case  on  each  disputed  point  for  the  immediate  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  is  the  tribunal  established  by  the  Constitu 
tion  for  that  purpose,  and  then  we  could  see  what  party  it  is  that  is  not 
willing  to  live  under  the  present  form  of  government  fairly  and  properly 
administered. 

"I  do  not  believe  that,  since  the  world  was  in  a  state  of  chaos,  there 
ever  was,  or  that  there  ever  will  be  again  so  general  and  universal  an  up 
heaving  of  society,  so  ruinous  and  desolating  a  disturbance  of  all  the  so 
cial,  moral,  political,  and  industrial  elements  of  a  people  for  such  slight 
and  insufficient  cause  as  this  country  now  exhibits  to  the  gaze  of  the  as- 

L2 


250  APPENDIX. 

tounded  nations  of  the  earth,  every  one  of  which  causes,  by  prudence,  dis 
cretion,  and  forbearance,  if  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  selfish  and  aspiring 
or  disappointed  politicians,  and  intrusted  to  the  people  at  the  polls,  as  is 
now  proposed  by  the  Crittenden  and  Biglcr  resolutions,  may  be  settled  am 
icably,  harmoniously,  and  satisfactorily  in  the  Union,  and  under  the  Con 
stitution,  within  the  next  sixty  days ;  while  there  is  not  one  that  will  not 
be  a  thousand-fold  aggravated  when  we  go  out  of  the  Union,  leaving  the 
Constitution,  the  laws,  the  whole  organization  of  the  government,  the 
army,  the  navy,  the  Treasury,  the  public  lands  in  all  the  states  as  well  as 
all  the  territories,  in  the  full  possession  of  the  Republican  party,  from 
whose  apprehended  designs  the  secessionists  are  for  running  off,  and  leav 
ing  behind  them  all  they  claim. 

"After  the  events  of  the  John  Brown  affair,  just  one  year  ago,  and  the 
scenes  through  which  we  are  now  passing,  let  us  never  again  have  a  word 
to  say  about  the  excitability  of  the  French,  who,  compared  with  us,  are 
an  immovable  and  unimpressible  race  of  people. 

"  Now,  I  believe  I  constitute  a  fair  type  or  specimen  of  what  is  the  actual 
condition  of  every  man  in  the  Southern  States,  in  a  legal,  political,  and 
constitutional  sense ;  and  I  find  myself  in  the  full,  free,  and  perfect  exer 
cise  of  every  blessing  and  of  every  right  of  a  personal  nature  that  I  have 
enjoyed  since  I  came  into  the  world.  I  am  also  in  the  possession  and 
enjoyment  of  whatever  property  I  may  own,  and  nobody,  as  far  as  I 
know,  proposes  to  disturb  or  dispossess  me  of  it ;  nor  can  any  human  be 
ing  thus  dispossess  me  except  by  due  course  of  law.  How  long  this  state 
of  things  may  continue  Omniscience  only  can  tell.  But  is  there  any  one, 
in  these  particulars,  in  a  worse  condition  than  I  am  ?  If  there  is — if  the 
instance  can  be  presented  of  any  one  man,  out  of  the  ten  millions  of  the 
white  population  in  the  Southern  States,  who  is  laboring  under  any  op 
pression,  wrong,  injustice,  or  grievance,  that  can  not  be  redressed  in  the 
Union,  and  which  can  be  redressed  out  of  the  Union,  then  I  will  pledge 
myself  to  vote  for  disunion  whenever  the  question  comes  up ;  but  if  no 
such  person  can  be  found,  I  will  never  consent  to  give  up  this  govern 
ment,  the  work  of  men  '  whose  like  we  ne'er  shall  look  upon  again, '  for 
any  other  government  which  the  destroyers  of  this  are  likely  to  substitute 
in  its  stead.  I  will  not  destroy  the  house  in  which  I  live,  and  which  pro 
tects  me  from,  the  blasts  and  storms  of  winter,  when  not  one  brick  is 
burned  nor  a  stick  of  timber  cut  with  which  to  erect  another.  I  will 
not  tear  down  the  works  of  Washington,  of  Madison,  of  Franklin,  of  Car 
roll,  of  Morris,  and  of  Pinckney,  to  take  upon  trust  the  clumsy  machinery 


APPENDIX.  251 

of  Yancey,  and  Rhett,  and  Pickens,  and  Toombs,  and  of  Davis.  I  will 
not  surrender  this  government  until  I  know  that  a  better  one  has  been 
provided  for  me. 

"When  I  see  in  the  distance  the  frightful  and  appalling  consequences 
of  disunion  and  civil  war,  which  many  will  not  see  until  the  reality  is 
brought  to  their  own  firesides  and  hearth-stones,  where  our  wives,  and  our 
daughters,  and  all  that  is  cherished  on  earth  is  clustered,  I  can  not  but 
persuade  myself  that  both  parties  will  shudder  and  recoil  at  its  approach, 
and  come  to  honorable  terms  of  settlement.  For  one  I  shall  never  despair 
of  the  republic. 

"When  I  see  that  upon  the  secession  of  any  or  all  the  Southern  States, 
the  President  is  left  no  alternative  and  no  discretion,  but  is  solemnly 
sworn  before  his  God  to  PRESERVE,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution, 
and  that  that  Constitution  declares  the  '  laws  of  the  United  States  to  be 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land,'  which  he  '  shall  take  care  to  see  faithfully 
executed, '  and  places  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States  under  his 
control,  and  provides  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  enable  him  '  to  exe 
cute  the  laws  and  suppress  insurrections,'  I  can  not  doubt  that  the  decla 
ration  of  secession,  however  much  it  may  be  deplored,  will  necessarily  im 
pose  upon  the  government  the  obligation  of  resorting  to  such  measures 
as  will  enable  him  to  see  the  laws  faithfully  executed;  the  right  to  do 
which  was  too  firmly  established  in  the  days  of  President  Jackson  by 
the  legislation  of  1832,  ever  to  be  overthrown  while  the  government  en 
dures.  I  only  speak  of  this  as  an  existing  fact,  which  is  not  likely  and 
hardly  possible  to  be  changed.  If  it  can  be  avoided,  I  shall  be  rejoiced 
to  see  it,  and,  while  I  can  not  doubt  the  power,  would,  as  your  represent 
ative  in  Convention,  cheerfully  unite  in  any  recommendation  or  remon 
strance  against  the  exercise  of  the  power. 

"When  I  see  too,  that,  without  the  power  to  strike  a  blow  in  resistance 
or  defense,  without  the  means  to  vindicate  herself,  the  state  may  be  hum 
bled  and  subdued  (and  all  the  gasconade  and  bravado  of  light-headed 
and  flippant  would-be  patriots  can  not  prevent  it) ;  when  I  see  that  a  sin 
gle  ship  of  war  stationed  at  the  Capes  of  Virginia  will  as  effectually 
block  up  and  destroy  the  entire  commerce  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  as 
if  they  were  surrounded  by  icebergs  in  the  Arctic  Ocean,  while  we  have 
no  naval  force  with  which  to  dislodge  or  remove  the  blockade ;  when  I 
see  that  the  commerce  of  every  other  Southern  state  may  be  cut  off  in 
the  same  way,  and  by  the  same  means,  by  sending  one  or  more  war- 
steamers  to  block  up  the  several  ports  of  Charleston,  Cape  Fear  River, 


252  APPENDIX. 

Savannah,  the  coasts  of  Florida,  Mobile  Bay,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  while  the  commerce  of  every  free  state  in  the  valley  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  is  left  open  by  means  of  railroad,  lake,  and  canal  communica 
tion  with  New  York ;  when  I  see  that  of  three  million  five  hundred  thou 
sand  militia-men  enrolled  in  the  United  States,  the  North  has  upward  of 
two  million  five  hundred  thousand,  with  no  negroes  to  take  care  of  at 
home,  and  the  South  only  about  nine  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand, 
with  our  wives  and  daughters  to  protect  and  our  negroes  to  watch ;  when 
I  see  that,  upon  all  constitutional  obligations  being  broken  down,  there 
must  be  incessant  and  exhausting  hostilities  carried  on  between  the  Bor 
der  Free  and  the  Border  Slave  States,  or  else  that  Maryland,  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri  will  speedily  become  Free  States, 
hitched  on  to  a  confederacy  of  Slave  States,  from  which  it  is  even  now 
proposed  they  should  then  be  turned  adrift ;  when  I  see  this  state  groan 
ing  under  a  debt  of  forty-five  millions,  to  be  raised  by  direct  taxation,  and 
all  her  sources  of  revenue  cut  off,  and  without  the  credit  to  obtain  a  dol 
lar  in  any  market  in  the  world  on  any  terms,  as  will  be  her  condition  in 
a  state  of  rebellion  and  civil  war;  when  I  see  nothing  but  bankruptcy 
and  distress  staring  every  man  in  the  face  ;  when  I  see  all  these  and  oth 
er  untold  calamities  to  be  brought  upon  our  people  by  the  inconsiderate 
haste  of  an  hour's  excitement,  or  for  misapplied  sympathy  for  a  state  that 
we  were  told  in  advance  would  '  hitch  us  on'  and  'precijritate  us  into 
revolution  whether  we  would  or  not ;'  when  I  can  see  nothing  but  absolute 
ruin  and  desolation  for  all  in  common,  which  neither  our  safety  nor  our 
honor  requires  us  to  encounter — I  say,  if  this  work  is  to  be  done,  it  must 
be  performed  by  other  hands  than  mine  ;  for  I  would  not,  for  all  the  hon 
ors,  and  offices,  and  wealth  of  the  world,  have  such  a  crime  resting  on 
my  soul. 

"I  have  said  I  would  take  any  compromise  that  would  restore  peace  to 
the  country ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  disguised  that  there  are  those  in  this 
state  and  others  in  the  South  who  do  not  mean  to  be  satisfied  with  any 
concessions  or  compromise  that  can  be  offered.  They  are  for  disunion 
per  se,  and  have  been,  as  Mr.  Rhett  acknowledges,  for  thirty  years.  For 
them  I  have  nothing  to  offer  but  resistance  to  every  proposition  and  every 
effort  that  looks  to  the  secession  of  this  state  ;  and  if,  upon  obtaining  all 
that  we  have  the  right  under  the  Constitution  to  claim,  they  still  persist 
in  their  opposition  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  in  stirring  up  rebel 
lion  and  treason,  I  think  it  manifest ^hat  the  government  icill fallback  on 
the  platform  upon  which  we  have  just  carried  this  state,  to  wit,  'The 


APPENDIX.  253 

Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Enforcement  of  the  Laws'  equally, 
fairly,  and  impartially  on  all ;  for  then  it  will  be  a  question  between  a 
well-regulated  government  on  the  one  hand,  and  anarchy  and  mob  law 
on  the  other ;  for  if  the  government  has  no  power  to  collect  its  taxes  or 
duties,  to  execute  its  laws,  put  down  rebellion,  and  punish  treason,  then 
it  is  no  longer  the  government  that  was  formed  by  our  fathers,  and  the 
sooner  the  whole  fabric  tumbles  to  pieces  the  better. 

"This  Union,  as  far  as  my  action  will  go,  must  and  shall  be  preserved, 
as  long  as  it  can  be  done  with  honor.  Has  Virginia  tamely  submitted 
to  dishonor  for  the  last  ten  years,  and  is  she  now  only  stimulated  to  re 
deem  that  honor  by  the  precipitate  action  of  other  states  ?  If  not,  what 
new  cause  has  arisen  within  the  last  two  months  that  makes  it  necessary 
to  call  together  the  Legislature,  or  a  convention  without  authority,  hold 
an  election  almost  without  notice,  meet  in  convention  and  declare  herself 
out  of  the  Union  in  less  time  than  is  ordinarily  devoted  to  the  passage  of 
a  bill  for  the  construction  of  a  mud  turnpike  in  the  mountains  ?  If  war 
had  actually  been  declared  against  us,  no  more  precipitate  action  could 
have  been  taken.  This,  too,  when  public  sentiment  in  the  North  is  daily 
and  hourly  undergoing  modifications,  and  petitions  are  pouring  in  upon 
Congress  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  people  for  settlement,  who  say  they 
are  ready  to  yield  to  all  just  and  reasonable  demands  for  the  sake  of  the 
Union. 

"I  will  not  stop  to  inquire  how  long  our  allies  in  the  Cotton  States  will 
be  able  to  hold  out,  and  help  us  after  leading  us  into  the  difficulty,  when 
their  ports  are  all  blockaded  and  their  supplies  of  actual  necessaries  of 
life — of  which  they  purchase  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars'  worth 
a  year  from  the  Free  States— shall  be  cut  off.  I  will  not  stop  to  inquire 
whether  the  world  can  live  as  long  without  their  cotton  as  they  can  live 
without  bread.  I  will  not  stop  to  show  that  both  England  and  France 
have  already,  by  the  Chinese  War,  made  arrangements  for  a  supply  of  cot 
ton  from  that  region  of  the  world,  which,  together  with  the  supply  from 
the  East  Indies,  will  render  them  in  a  few  years  independent  of  the  Cot 
ton  States ;  for  all  these  will  be  subjects  for  argument  elsewhere ;  but  I 
simply  throw  them  out  as  hints  for  reflection,  and  as  reasons  for  making 
haste  slowly. 

"What  is  to  become  of  that  vast  multitude  of  naturalized  citizens  scat 
tered  through  the  Southern  States  who  owe  a  sworn  allegiance  to  the 
United  States  government,  which  isjjound  to  protect  them  in  every  land, 
whether  at  home  or  abroad  ?  Are  they  to  be  asked  to  commit  willful 


254  APPENDIX. 

perjury  by  taking  up  arms  against  the  Constitution  and  the  government 
they  have  solemnly  sworn  to  support,  or  are  they  to  be  driven  from  the 
South  as  aliens  and  enemies  to  the  new-fangled  government  that  is  to  be 
erected  ?  It  is  a  question  for  grave  deliberation  to  determine  what  is  to 
be  their  status  when  we  separate  from  our  government  and  theirs.  If 
you,  the  natives  of  Virginia,  owe  your  first  allegiance  to  the  state,  surely 
they  owe  theirs  to  the  general  government. 

"To  be  brief,  I  am  ready  to  sacrifice  myself,  and  live  in  obscurity  and 
poverty,  deserted  by  friends  for  whom  I  would  die  rather  than  harm,  if 
by  such  sacrifice  I  can  save  the  rich  legacy  from  our  fathers,  and  the  right 
ful  inheritance  of  our  children.  I  am  ready  to  hazard  my  life,  if  neces 
sary,  in  fighting  the  battles  of  Virginia  in  a  just  cause,  but  I  am  not  will 
ing  to  sacrifice  the  best  interests  of  my  state  and  my  country,  and  the 
hopes  of  oppressed  mankind  throughout  the  world,  in  upholding  South 
Carolina  in  a  bad  cause,  in  a  wholly  unjustifiable  and  petulant  whim, 
which  she  avows  she  has  indulged  for  thirty  years.  I  am  not  willing  to 
rush  upon  destruction  for  a  misplaced  sympathy  for  a  state  that  exulted 
over  the  election  of  a  Eepublican  President,  burned  their  tar-barrels  and 
illuminated  their  cities  because  it  afforded  them  the  pretext  for  rebellion, 
and  that  has  since  violently  seized  upon  the  forts,  arsenals,  arms,  and 
ammunition,  and  money  of  the  United  States,  and  has  fired  upon  and 
driven  from  her  waters  an  unarmed  vessel  bearing  that  flag  of  the  Union 
which  has  borne  us  triumphantly  through  every  war  and  every  trouble. 
I  am  not  one  of  those  who  profess  or  feel  such  sympathy,  nor  will  I  up 
hold  her  in  such  conduct.  Yet  I  would  aiford  her  every  opportunity  to 
retrace  her  injudicious  step. 

"My  earnest  and  urgent  advice,  then,  is  that  Virginia  should  remain 
in  the  Union,  demanding  all  her  constitutional  rights,  the  repeal  of  all 
unconstitutional  laws,  or  the  declaration  of  their  nullity  by  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  a  just  punishment  for  those  who  shall  resist  its  decisions. 
Let  her  remain  in,  and  act  the  part  of  mediator  and  peace-maker  between 
the  extremes  of  both  sections  of  the  country.  Recollect  that  those  who 
now  beckon  you  on  to  destruction  arc  the  same  advisers  and  leaders  that 
lured  you  on  in  1854  to  insist  upon  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise,  which  has  brought  you  to  your  present  condition.  That  was  a 
grievous  error  of  which  you  had  timely  warning,  but  to  which  you  would 
not  listen ;  and  those  who  warned  you  then  were  denounced  as  submis- 
sionists  and  traitors  to  the  South  as  they  are  now.  Be  not  deceived  by  the 
same  men  again,  who  would  now  lead  you  into  one  ten  thousand  times 


APPENDIX.  255 

more  fatal ;  and  do  not  hereafter  forget  that  I  tell  you  now,  when  you 
give  up  your  Union,  you  surrender  your  liberties  and  the  liberties  of  all 
who  are  to  come  after  you. 

"If  this  brief  and  hurried  exposition  of  my  views  should  meet  with  the 
concurrence  of  the  people  of  Richmond,  and  they  desire  to  call  me  into 
their  service  at  a  moment  when  all  the  calmness,  deliberation,  and  phi 
losophy  of  the  most  experienced  and  far-sighted  statesmen  should  be  call 
ed  into  requisition,  I  shall  appreciate  the  honor,  and  not  decline  the  trust. 
But  if  they  are  bent  on  committing  an  act  of  self-destruction  that  no 
time,  nor  labor,  nor  money  can  repair,  and  involving  this  state  and  them 
selves  in  everlasting  ruin,  some  other  arm  than  mine  must  be  selected  to 
strike  the  blow  ;  for  I  can  not  and  will  not  commit  the  parricidal  act  that 
would  hand  my  name  down  in  dishonor  to  posterity  as  one  of  the  de 
stroyers  of  my  country  and  of  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

"P.S. — I  have  written  this  letter  because  I  shall  have  no  other  oppor 
tunity  of  making  my  opinions  known  to  the  voters  of  Richmond  —  which 
have  been  greatly  misrepresented  —  as  I  am  called  to  Washington,  and 
shall  most  probably  not  return  until  about  the  time  of  the  election.  I 
will  be  sure  to  be  here  in  time  to  give  my  own  vote  for  Union  men. 

"JOHN  M.  BOTTS." 

In  rapid  succession  one  Cotton  or  Gulf  State  after  another  had  passed 
their  ordinances  of  secessian,  until  they  had  all  thrown  themselves  head 
long  into  the  rebellion.  The  action  of  the  remaining  states,  to  wit, 
North  Carolina,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  mainly  de 
pended  upon  the  course  that  Virginia  might  adopt.  All  eyes  were  turned 
upon  her  Convention.  The  proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln  calling  for  sev 
enty-five  thousand  men  (which  I  think  should  have  been  for  three  hund 
red  thousand  at  the  least,  accompanied  with  a  recital  of  the  wrongs  and 
injuries  already  perpetrated  by  South  Carolina  and  her  associate  states, 
with  a  suitable  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the  people  to  sustain  the  in 
tegrity  of  the  nation)  was  issued  on  the  15th  of  April,  18G1.  The  rep 
resentatives  of  the  people  in  Convention,  who  had  been  elected  to  keep 
Virginia  in  the  Union,  betrayed  their  trust,  and  in  a  moment  of  artfully 
and  ingeniously  contrived  excitement,  and  in  a  fit  of  absolute  intimidation, 
as  I  have  shown,  adopted  an  ordinance  of  secession  on  the  17th,  which 
created  a  wild  distraction  in  the  people's  mind.  The  fact  was  flashed 


256  APPENDIX. 

with  lightning  speed  from  state  to  state,  from  city  to  city,  from  village  to 
village,  and  in  less  than  thirty-six  hours  the  whole  South  seemed  to  have 
been  electrified.  If  there  were  at  that  time  ten  men  in  the  city  of  Eich- 
mond  who  had  not  for  the  instant  inhaled  the  poison,  I  did  not  know 
them ;  for  those  Avho  did  not,  under  the  reign  of  terror  that  was  instant 
aneously  inaugurated,  thought  it  most  prudent  to  keep  their  opinions  to 
themselves. 

It  was  in  this  condition  of  things,  and  under  these  circumstances,  that, 
apprehending  and  foreshadowing  what  has  since  become  a  painful  and 
frightful  reality,  the  firm  conviction  was  forced  upon  my  mind  that  a 
temporary  and  partial  separation,  authorized  by  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  to  that  effect,  could  alone  prevent  the  other  Southern  States 
from  following  in  the  wake  of  Virginia,  which  would  give  to  the  rebellion 
such  gigantic  proportions  as  would  lead  to  the  most  disastrous  war  re 
corded  on  the  page  of  history.  To  save  these  Border  States  to  the  Un 
ion,  including  Virginia — for  in  that  event  the  people  would  have  repudi 
ated  the  action  of  their  Convention — to  avert  the  evils  that  have  since  re 
sulted,  I  addressed  the  following  letter  to  my  valued  friend,  Hon.  Edward 
Bates,  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States. 

By  the  suggestions  contained  in  this  correspondence,  it  was  my  purpose, 
if  war  was  inevitable,  to  make  it  &  foreign  instead  of  a  czmVwar,  in  which 
other  states  would  have  no  pretext  for  taking  part  with  the  revolted  states 
in  the  Gulf.  I  believed  then,  as  I  believe  now,  that  such  a  course,  if 
adopted,  would  have  cut'  off  all  co-operation  between  the  Border  and 
Cotton  States,  which  would  speedily  bring  the  Cotton  States  to  their 
senses,  and  that  these  people  would  themselves  in  a  short  time  ask  for  re- 
admission  into  the  Union ;  and  that,  overwhelming  their  faithless  rulers, 
they  would  return  to  their  allegiance  with  an  increased  spirit  of  fidelity 
to  the  country ;  and  that  if  they  did  not,  that  then  the  application  of 
some  of  their  own  cherished  principles,  as  contained  in  the  "Monroe  Doc 
trine,"  or  in  the  celebrated  "Ostend  Manifesto,"  which  was  the  exclusive 
work  of  Southern  Democracy,  or  that  the  difficulties  growing  out  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  or  some  other  of  the  thousand  causes  that 
would  necessarily  arise,  would  furnish  the  occasion  of  reducing  them  to 
subjection  and  obedience  to  the  authorities  of  the  United  States. 

I  did  think  if  all  that  has  followed  could  have  been  foreseen,  such  a 
settlement  would  have  been  eagerly  embraced  by  nine  tenths  of  the 
friends  of  the  Union  in  all  quarters,  independent  of  the  immense  sacri 
fice  of  life,  and  the  amount  of  misery  that  has  been  entailed  upon  the  hu- 


APPENDIX.  257 

man  family.  I  think  the  Cotton  States  would  have  been  dearly  paid  for 
at  half  the  amount  of  money  that  has  been  expended,  throwing  every 
other  consideration  out  of  the  question.  Here,  however,  is  my  letter  to 
Mr.  Bates : 

THE   BATES   LETTERS. 

Richmond,  AprU  19, 1SG1. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  yesterday  has  been  received.  Before 
this  you  will  have  learned  through  the  press  all  that  has  occurred  at  Nor 
folk  and  at  this  place  ;  but  I  can  not  begin  to  give  you  a  just  conception 
of  the  excitement  created,  not  only  here  but  throughout  the  whole  South 
ern  country,  by  the  proclamation  of  the  15th,  which  in  many  respects  may 
be  regarded  as  the  most  unfortunate  document  that  ever  issued  from  the 
government.  In  the  absence  of  that  paper,  this  state  could  not  have  been 
carried  out  of  the  Union  ;  with  it,  the  Union  party  and  the  Union  feeling 
has  been  almost  entirely  swept  out  of  existence.  You  can  not  meet  with 
one  man  in  a  thousand  who  is  not  influenced  with  a  passion  for  ivar ;  and 
every  one  seems  to  regard  the  proclamation  as  a  declaration  of  war  for  the 
subjugation  of  the  entire  South,  and  for  the  extermination  of  slavery. 
Reason  (with  them  on  this  point)  would  as  soon  arrest  the  motion  of  the 
Atlantic  as  it  would  check  the  current  of  their  passions. 

When  I  saw  you  in  Washington  some  ten  days  since,  I  had  the  honor 
to  lay  before  you  and  other  members  of  the  Cabinet,  as  well  as  before  Mr. 
Lincoln  himself,  a  plan  for  the  settlement  of  our  troubles  through  the  me 
dium  of  a  national  convention,  to  give  to  the  seceded  states  leave  to  with- 
draio.  I  thought  then,  as  I  do  now,  that  the  plan  then  suggested  was  the 
only  solution  to  the  dreadful  crisis  which  was  upon  us.  Since  that  time 
matters  have  assumed  a  far  more  frightful  aspect, -and  I  now  venture  to 
make  one  more  effort  to  save  the  unnecessary  effusion  of  brothers'  blood, 
and,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  humanity,  and  Christianity,  I  implore  you  to 
give  it  your  earnest  and  solemn  deliberation. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  no  man  in  this  nation  has  held  in  higher  appre 
ciation  the  value  of  our  blessed  Union.  No  man  has  labored  more  con 
stantly  and  earnestly  for  its  perpetuation  than  I ;  no  man's  heart  can  bleed 
more  freely  for  its  loss  than  mine ;  no  man  can  mourn  more  sorrowfully  » 
for  its  overthrow  than  I  will ;  no  man  can  condemn  more  severely  the  im 
mediate  causes  that  have  so  unnecessarily  led  us  into  this  awful  and  ter 
rible  catastrophe  than  I  do.  Yet,  for  the  first  time,  after  an  entire  night 
of  sleepless  reflection,  when  I  prayed  as  I  never  prayed  before  for  wisdom 


258  APPENDIX. 

and  strength  to  do  my  duty,  my  mind  has  been  brought  to  the  conclusion 
that  a  dissolution  is  an  inevitable  decree  of  fate. 

I  am  satisfied  that  a  contest  on  the  part  of  the  general  government, 
with  its  perfect  military  organization,  powerful  naval  forces,  its  command 
of  money,  and  its  credit  without  limit,  backed  by  eighteen  or  twenty  mil 
lions  of  people,  against  eight  millions,  without  military  organization,  with 
out  naval  forces,  and  without  money  or  credit,  is  not  likely  to  be  of  doubt 
ful  result  in  the  end.  But  after  that,  what  then?  Can  the  Union  bo 
preserved  on  such  terms,  or  would  it  be  worth  preserving  if  it  could  ?  Aft 
er  the  best  blood  of  the  country  has  been  shed  in  a  war  which  has  passion, 
prejudice,  and  unnatural  but  mutual  hate  for  its  foundation,  intensified  by 
the  conflict,  could  the  two  sections  ever  be  brought  together  as  one  people 
again  ?  And  would  it  not  require  large  standing  armies,  in  constant,  act 
ive  service,  to  conquer  and  maintain  a  peace?  And  would  not  that  end 
at  last  in  a  hateful,  loathsome  military  despotism  ? 

If  I  am  right  in  all  this,  would  not  a  peaceful  separation,  not  as  a  mil 
itary  necessity,  but  as  a  triumph  of  reason,  order,  law,  liberty,  morality, 
and  religion,  over  passion,  pride,  prejudice,  hatred,  disorder,  and  the  force 
of  the  mob,  be  a  far  wiser  and  more  desirable  solution  of  the  problem  than 
such  scenes  as  will  result  from  a  purely  sectional  warfare  (result  as  it  may), 
and  from  which  the  heart  sickens  and  the  soul  recoils  with  horror  ? 

You  may  cut,  maim,  kill,  and  destroy ;  you  may  sweep  down  battalions 
with  your  artillery ;  you  may  block  up  commerce  with  your  fleets ;  you 
may  starve  out  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the  enemies  of  the 
government ;  you  may  overrun,  but  you  can  not  subjugate  the  united  South. 
And,  if  you  could  do  all  this,  you  could  not  do  it  without  inflicting  an 
equal  amount  of  misery  upon  those  who  are  its  best  friends,  and  who  have 
stood  as  long  as  there  was  a  plank  to  stand  upon  by  the  side  of  the  Union, 
the  Constitution,  and  the  laws.  Our  streets  may  run  red  with  blood  ;  our 
dwellings  may  be  leveled  with  the  earth ;  our  fields  may  be  laid  waste ; 
our  hearth-stones  may  be  made  desolate ;  and  then,  at  the  last,  what  end 
has  been  gained  ?  Why,  the  government  has  exhibited  its  power,  which 
has  never  been  questioned  but  by  the  idle,  the  ignorant,  and  the  deluded, 
and  for  the  display  of  which  there  will  be  abundant  opportunities,  without 
an  effort  now  on  either  side  to  cut  each  other's  throats ! 

So  far  from  its  being  regarded  as  a  betrayal  of  weakness  by  the  other 
powers  of  the  globe,  will  it  not  be  looked  upon  in  the  present  emergency 
as  an  act  of  magnanimity  and  heroism  on  the  part  of  the  more  powerful 
party  to  propose  terms  of  peace  ?  Let  me,  then,  as  a  strong,  devoted,  un- 


APPENDIX.  259 

alterable  friend  of  the  Union  (if  it  could  be  maintained),  let  me,  as  a  con 
scientious  and  unchangeable  opponent  of  the  fatal  heresy  of  secession, 
urge  upon  this  administration  the  policy  of  issuing  another  proclamation 
fjroposing  a  truce  to  hostilities,  and  the  immediate  assembling  of  a  nation 
al  convention  to  recognize  the  independence  of  such  of  the  states  as  desire 
to  withdraw  from  the  Union  and  make  the  experiment  of  separate  gov 
ernment,  which  it  will  not,  as  I  think,  take  them  long  to  discover  is  the 
most  egregious  error  that  man,  in  his  hour  of  madness,  ever  committed. 

In  five  years  from  this  time  the  remaining  United  States  would  be 
stronger  and  more  powerful  than  the  thirty-four  states  were  six  months 
ago,  and  you  will  have  a  government  permanent  and  enduring  for  all 
time  to  come,  to  which  all  who  seek  an  asylum  from  oppression  may  re 
sort  hereafter. 

I  will  not  undertake  to  speculate  on  the  experiment  of  a  Southern  re 
public  ;  my  opinions  on  that  subject  are  well  denned,  and  too  well  under 
stood  to  make  it  necessary  that  they  should  be  canvassed  here.  Let  it  be 
tried,  and  let  it  work  out  its  own  salvation. 

If  this  policy  can  be  adopted,  all  I  shall  ask  for  myself  will  be  the  priv 
ilege  of  retiring  to  some  secluded  spot,  where  I  can  live  in  peace,  and 
mourn  over  the  downfall  of  the  best  government,  wisely  administered, 
with  which  man  was  ever  blessed. 

For  God's  sake,  let  me  implore  you  to  let  wisdom,  magnanimity,  true 
courage,  and  humanity  prevail  in  your  councils,  and  give  peace  to  a  dis 
tracted  and  dissevered  country. 

I  write  as  one  who  feels  that  he  is  standing  on  the  brink  of  the  grave 
of  all  he  has  cherished  on  earth  ;  my  head  is  bowed  down  with  grief  over 
the  madness  that  rules  the  hour,  and  I  pray  God  to  give  me  the  wisdom 
to  know  and  the  strength  to  perform  my  duty,  my  whole  duty  to  my 
country,  my  state,  and  my  friends. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  yours,  etc. ,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

Hon.  EDWAKD  BATES,  Attorney  General,  etc. 

Will  you  grant  me  the  favor  to  lay  this  last  effort  to  serve  my  country 
before  the  Cabinet  at  its  first  meeting  ?  I  appeal  to  you,  as  a  native  son 
of  Virginia,  to  do  it.  J.  M.  B. 

As  indicative  of  the  temper  and  spirit  with  which  this  letter  was  re 
ceived  by  the  secessionists,  I  append  the  following  editorial  from  the  Pe 
tersburg  Express,  being,  perhaps,  the  most  decent  and  temperate  of  all 
the  comments  made  upon  it : 


260  APPENDIX. 

"  lion.  John  M.  Bolts. — This  gentleman,  it  seems,  has  been  recently  en 
gaged  in  efforts  to  bring  about  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  present  disturb 
ances  in  the  country  by  appeals  to  the  wicked  authors  of  these  disturb 
ances,  the  Eump  administration  in  Washington.  A  letter  which  he  ad 
dressed  to  Edward  Bates,  the  Rump  Attorney  General,  has  just  been  pub 
lished,  and  we  have  read  it  with  vastly  more  amazement  than  satisfac 
tion,  because  sentiments  are  breathed  in  it  which  are  unworthy  of  a  high- 
toned  Virginian  in  a  crisis  like  the  present,  when  his  liberty  is  assailed  in 
a  manner  utterly  disgraceful  to  the  age  we  live  in.  Mr.  Botts  is  doubt 
less  very  anxious  to  bring  the  two  sections  to  a  halt  in  their  preparation 
for  war.  He  is  doubtless  a  friend  to  peace,  and  would  use  all  his  power 
and  influence  to  commend  it.  But  he  has  adopted  the  very  worst  course 
that  he  could  well  have  done  to  effect  the  end  he  has  in  view.  The  let 
ter  to  Bates  betrays  a  spirit  of  rank  disaffection  to  the  cause  of  the  South 
which  is  too  obvious  to  escape  notice,  and  a  fear  of  the  Northern  millions 
which  is  conspicuously  apparent  in  a  portion  of  it.  Now  Mr.  Botts  is 
(no  thanks  to  Lincoln)  a  citizen  of  a  free  republic,  and  has  a  right  to  his 
own  thoughts.  We  hope  never  to  see  any  where  in  the  South  an  at 
tempt  made  to  muzzle  the  tongue,  pen,  or  conscience  of  the  citizen. 

"  Mr.  Botts  is  still  an  ardent  Union  man,  strange  to  say ;  and  although 
he  counsels  the  call  of  '  a  national  convention  to  give  the  states  leave  to 
withdraw,*  it  is  evident  that  their  withdrawal  is  to  him  a  most  unpalata 
ble  thing  to  contemplate.  The  horror  which  he  feels  at  this  picture  is 
only  exceeded  by  that  which  fills  him  at  the  contemplation  of  the  picture 
of  a  bloody  civil  war.  Had  we  set  about  the  work  that  Mr.  Botts  has 
undertaken  of  impressing  upon  the  Eump  government  a  pacific  policy, 
the  first  thing  that  we  would  have  studiously  guarded  against  would  have 
been  the  use  of  any  expression  which  could  be  tortured  into  the  signifi 
cation  that  there  was  the  slightest  apprehension  at  the  South  of  the  con 
sequences  of  war,  because  it  has  been  a  fixed  and  inflexible  principle  of 
the  Black  Republicans,  ever  since  the  secession  movement  began,  to  in 
terpret  every  such  expression  into  a  sign  of  lacking  down,  or,  in  other 
words,  into  a  disposition  to  return  into  the  Union  upon  any  terms ;  and 
this  interpretation  has  uniformly  steeled  them  against  all  conciliation  and 
adjustment.  We  should  have  spoken  in  a  very  different  tone  to  Lincoln 
from  that  in  which  Mr.  Botts  has  thought  fit  to  address  him.  We  would 
have  in  a  manly  way  told  him  that  the  South  had  separated  from  the 
North  because  her  constitutional  rights  had  been  trodden  down,  and  her 
liberties  were  threatened ;  that  she  demanded  the  recognition  of  her  sep- 


APPENDIX.  261 

arate  sovereignty,  not  as  a  matter  of  favor  but  as  a  matter  of  justice,  and 
that  she  was  fully  able  and  irrevocably  determined  to  protect  herself  with 
her  own  arm.  We  should  have  held  the  proud  language  of  an  equal, 
not  that  of  a  cringing,  trembling  inferior. 

"The  following  passage  in  Mr.  Botts's  letter  is  essentially,  totally,  and 
peculiarly  revolting  to  the  Southern  heart,  and  we  lose  no  time  in  de 
claring  that  the  uncalled-for  and  craven  admission  which  it  contains  is 
the  admission  of  Mr.  Botts,  and  of  no  Southron.  Says  he : 

"  '  I  am  satisfied  that  a  contest  on  the  part  of  the  general  government, 
with  its  perfect  military  organization,  powerful  naval  forces,  its  command 
of  money,  and  its  credit  without  limit,  backed  by  eighteen  or  twenty  mil 
lions  of  people,  against  eight  millions  without  military  organization,  with 
out  naval  forces,  and  without  money  or  credit,  is  not  likely  to  be  of 
doubtful  result  in  the  end.' 

"We  hardly  have  words  to  express  the  surprise  and  indignation  which 
we  feel  at  this  extraordinary  assertion  by  a  citizen  of  the  South  on  such 
an  occasion.  John  Hickman,  the  redoubtable  hero  who  had  his  face 
slapped  by  Edmundson,  was  the  first  to  parade  this  gasconading  non 
sense  before  the  world,  and  his  contemptible  bravado  was  only  laughed  at. 
Now  a  native  born  and  bred  Virginian,  in  the  face  of  a  people  who  repu 
diated  and  spurned  the  bullying  threat  of  Hickman,  publicly  indorses  it ! 
Why,  even  the  North  herself  will  smile  derisively  at  such  a  preposterous 
— such  an  infinitely  ridiculous  declaration.  The  North  knows  that,  of 
all  the  stupidly  absurd  undertakings  that  she  could  possibly  engage  in, 
that  of  attempting  to  subjugate  the  fourteen  states  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  would  be  the  most  stupidly  absurd. 

"  There  is  not  a  single  particular  in  Mr.  Botts's  enumeration  of  North 
ern  resources  that  is  not  grossly  exaggerated.  The  Lincoln  government 
is  not  near  'perfect  in  its  military  organization;'  its  *  naval  forces'  are 
any  thing  else  but  a  terror ;  its  '  command  of  money,'  and  its  'credit,'  al 
though  great,  is  not  without  limit ;  and  as  to  the  eighteen  or  twenty  mil 
lions  of  people,  why,  if  every  man  of  them  was  to  take  the  field,  fully 
armed  and  equipped,  the  ten  millions  of  Southern  soldiers  arrayed  against 
them  would  be  a  full  equivalent  —  a  first-rate  Roland  for  the  Northern 
Oliver. 

"But  why  say  more  on  this  subject?  Mr.  Botts  may  tremble  before 
the  monstrous  giant  his  disturbed  imagination  has  conjured  up  before 
him,  but  there  is  not,  we  believe,  another  man  in  the  whole  South  who 
will  not  consider  it  a  bugbear  of  the  first  order." 


262  APPENDIX. 

A  few  days  after,  without  waiting  for  a  reply  to  my  first  letter,  I  wrote 
a  second  letter  to  Mr.  Bates,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

Pachmond,  April  22, 1SG1. 

DEAR  Sm, — Again  I  venture  to  address  you,  and  again  in  the  name  of 
a  convulsed  nation  to  sue  for  peace. 

Frantic  people  on  both  sides  may  clamor  for  war,  but  the  dispassionate 
and  reflecting  every  where  demand  a  cessation  of  this  horrible  and  cruel 
war,  and  the  party  that  has  it  chiefly  in  its  power  to  stop  it  will  sink  un 
der  the  weight  of  its  responsibility,  both  to  God  and  man,  if  it  is  not 
stopped. 

You  know  as  well  as  I  the  spirit  and  fiery  zeal  of  your  own  Southern 
race ;  you  know  that,  no  matter  what  your  power  may  be,  you  could  nev 
er  reduce  them  to  subjection.  As  I  said  in  my  first  letter,  "overrun  them 
you  may,"  but  you  can  not  subjugate;  and  even  to  overrun  them  now  is 
becoming  more  and  more  doubtful  every  day.  But  if  you  could,  what  do 
you  hope  to  accomplish  by  it?  Is  it  not  as  clear  as  the  noonday's  sun 
that  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  is  a  fixed,  irrevocable  fact  ?  and  is  it  not 
equally  clear  that  a  war  between  sections,  North  and  South,  only  makes 
it  a  costly,  bloody,  desolating  dissolution,  instead  of  a  peaceful  separation 
of  elements  that  are  now  as  thoroughly  and  as  sternly  antagonistic  as  fire 
and  water  ? 

The  disaffection  in  Maryland  to  the  cause  of  the  government,  and  es 
pecially  the  scenes  enacted  in  Baltimore,  render  it  certain  that  the  revo 
lution  is  spreading  with  immense  rapidity.  Why  not,  then,  at  once  come 
to  honorable  terms,  and  let  each  of  the  republics,  North  and  South,  live 
after  their  own  fashion  and  their  own  fancy?  The  Southern  blood  is 
fired,  and  you  may  rest  assured  that,  to  the  last  man,  they  will  resist  the 
powers  of  the  Federal  government  if  their  independence  is  not  recognized. 

If  my  counsels  could  have  prevailed  when  I  was  in  "Washington,  eight 
Border  States  would  have  been  saved  to  the  Union.  Now  four  of  them  at 
least  are  gone  from  you,  and  probably  all.  Why,  then,  make  it  worse  than 
it  is  by  farther  procrastination  ? 

If  you  knew  what  it  has  cost  me  in  mental  agony  to  give  up  all  hope  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States  as  it  was  formed  by  our  fathers,  you 
would  listen  to  my  counsels  and  have  respect  for  what  I  say. 

I  pray  you,  tell  me  what  possible  good  is  expected  to  be  accomplished 
by  a  war  among  ourselves?  Which  party  can  possibly  be  benefited? 
After  500,000  lives  have  been  lost,<md  $1,000,000,000  of  money  has  been 


APPENDIX.  263 

spent,  must  it  not  at  last  end  in  a  severance  of  the  ties  that  have  hereto 
fore  held  us  together  as  one  people  ? 

I  never  saw  the  day  that  I  more  sternly  denied  the  right  of  secession 
under  our  Constitution  than  I  do  now ;  but  the  right  of  REVOLUTION  I 
have  always  asserted,  and  no  one  has  ever  denied  it.  This  state  has  not 
seceded,  because  the  Convention  had  no  power  to  secede,  and  the  vote, 
which  the  people  reserved  to  themselves,  has  not  been  taken ;  yet  they 
are  themselves  in  a  state  of  revolution.  It  matters  not  whether  you  or  I 
think  there  has  or  has  not  been  just  cause  for  revolution.  We  are  not 
made  the  judges  of  that ;  they  have  decided  for  themselves,  and  had  a 
right  to  do  so.  I  suppose  no  revolution  ever  yet  arose  in  which  those  in 
volved  in  it  were  entirely  unanimous  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  causes 
that  led  to  it ;  therefore  I  do  not  conceive  that  I  have  a  right  to  set  up 
my  individual  opinion  against  what  seems  to  be  the  almost  unanimous 
voice  of  the  entire  South,  and  I  find  myself,  with  the  rest,  precipitated 
into  a  revolution  without  any  agency  of  my  own,  and  against  which  I  am 
utterly  powerless.  So  it  is  with  thousands  and  thousands  over  the  coun 
try — some  from  impulse,  some  from  judgment,  and  some  from  necessity, 
until  the  sentiment  has  almost  one  universal  "ay"  for  revolution. 

I  can  not  so  far  stultify  myself  as  to  deny  the  right  of  all  governments 
to  put  down  revolution  if  they  can ;  this  is  too  well  recognized  a  principle 
to  be  disputed ;  and  where  a  successful  revolution  would  overthrow  the 
government  itself,  I  do  not  question  the  right  of  the  government  to  resort 
to  every  means  for  its  own  preservation. 

But  would  the  government  of  the  United  States  be  overthrown  by  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  apart  of  its  original  proportions? 
On  the  contrary,  I  venture  to  say  your  government  would  be  more  power 
ful,  more  harmonious,  and  more  happy  (when  institutions  common  to  all 
pervaded  your  entire  land,  and  no  jarring  interests  were  brought  into 
contact)  than  you  have  been  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  certainly  for 
the  last  ten  or  twelve,  during  which  time  there  has  been  nothing  but  one 
continual  stream  of  discord  pouring  out  from  the  press,  the  pulpit,  the 
hustings,  and  the  halls  of  Congress,  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

If,  after  the  separation  has  been  accomplished,  time  shall  prove  it  to 
have  been  to  the  interest  of  the  parties  that  they  should  have  continued 
as  one,  would  not  a  re-union  be  far  more  likely  to  be -brought  about  here 
after  without,  than  after  such  a  war  as  may  be  looked  for,  if  not  checked 
at  once?  What  would  be  deemed  an  act  of  forbearance  and  liberality 
from  a  father  to  a  son,  or  from  brother  to  brother,  might  be  esteemed  as 


264  APPENDIX. 

cowardice  and  poltroonery  to  a  stranger  and  a  foe,  and  so  it  would  be 
here.  We  are  of  the  same  family,  and  concessions  may  be  made  without 
dishonor. 

Look  to  the  country  as  it  was,  which  I  need  not  describe,  then  look 
upon  it  as  it  is,  and  as  it  is  likely  to  be.  Not  only  is  all  business  suspend 
ed,  and  all  prospect  of  prosperity  and  happiness  banished  from  the  land, 
but  all  intercourse  is  cut  off  between  members  of  the  same  household,  be 
tween  partners  and  traders  in  business,  between  man  and  wife,  parent 
and  child,  who  were  temporarily  or  permanently  located  in  different  states, 
by  the  destruction  of  railroads,  bridges,  and  telegraphic  communication. 
How  long  can  this  state  of  things  be  permitted  to  continue? 

I  would  give  millions  this  night  (if  I  had  them)  to  have  the  power  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  for  one  moment,  that  I  might  say,  "  Brethren,  depart  in 
peace ;  let  there  be  no  more  quarrel  between  us ;"  and  then  what  a  bright 
sunshine  would  spread  over  the  land  at  once ! 

Upon  the  restoration  of  peace,  the  "plow,  the  loom,  and  the  anvil" 
would  instantaneously  leap  to  their  accustomed  work.  Commerce  would 
again  whiten  the  ocean  with  its  sails.  Prosperity  and  happiness  at  home 
would  take  the  place  of  death  on  the  battle-field.  The  affectionate  wife, 
the  tender  mother,  and  the  fond  sister,  North  and  South,  would  hail  as 
blessed,  and  a  nation's  prayers  would  ascend  for  benedictions  on  the  head 
of  the  man  who  was  brave  enough  to  defy  and  contemn  all  injurious  im 
putations  in  order  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  his  country  and  save  it 
from  ruin. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  very  truly  yours,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

A  few  days  after  this  letter  was  sent,  I  received  the  following  letter 
from  Mr.  Bates,  in  reply  to  my  first  of  the  19th,  which  led  to  others  that 
follow  in  order. 

Washington  City,  Monday,  April  29, 1861. 
Hon.  JOHN  M.  BOTTS,  Richmond,  Virginia  : 

DEAR  SIR, — Day  before  yesterday,  Saturday,  Colonel  William  Henry 
Russell,  of  Kansas  (now  sojourning  in  this  city),  handed  me  an  open  note 
from  you  to  me,  bearing  date  Richmond,  April  23,  18G1,  in  which  was 
folded  up,  but  not  mentioned  in  the  body  of  the  note,  a  printed  paper  (ap 
parently  clipped  from  a  newspaper)  which  purported  to  be  a  letter  from 
you  to  me.  I  say  purported;  for  although  you  may  have  written  such  a 
letter,  certainly  I  have  received  no  such  letter  in  your  handwriting  nor  in 
any  form,  except  the  printed  slip  folded  in  your  note. 


APPENDIX.  265 

You  and  I,  Mr.  Botts,  know  each  other's  characters  very  well.  Here 
tofore  yours  has  been  marked  by  bold,  frank,  and  manly  traits,  which 
won  for  you  many  friends  and  admirers  all  over  the  country,  and  hence 
my  astonishment  on  receiving  from  you  such  a  note  with  such  an  inclos- 
ure.  I  do  not  impute  the  blame  to  you,  for  I  can  not  avoid  the  conclu 
sion  that  you  are  acting  under  duress— that  you  have  become  the  victim 
of  a  set  of  desperadoes,  who,  having  wantonly  plunged  into  the  guilt  of 
treason  and  the  danger  of  ruin,  would  gladly  sacrifice  you  and  me,  and 
ten  thousand  such  men,  if  thereby  they  can  make  a  way  of  escape  for 
themselves  from  the  least  of  the  dangers  which  they  have  so  wickedly  in 
curred. 

Here  at  Washington,  perhaps,  we  know  a  little  more  about  the  machi 
nations  of  the  conspirators  at  Richmond  than  they  are  aware  of.  But 
besides  that,  the  documents  (your  note  to  Colonel  Russell,  your  note  to 
me,  and  the  printed  slip)  bear  internal  evidence  of  a  concerted  plan,  a 
scheme  invented,  not  by  the  bold  and  patriotic  Botts,  but  by  those  same 
conspirators  who,  failing  to  intimidate  the  government  by  bullying  vio 
lence,  have  changed  their  tactics,  and  still  hope  to  win  the  victory  and 
destroy  the  nation  by  a  less  hazardous  but  more  cunning  process. 

1.  Your  note  to  Colonel  Russell  (which  he  showed  me)  imports  that 
you  are  safe  and  comfortable  at  Richmond,  while  we  have  melancholy 
testimony  that  such  men  as  you  are  neither  safe  nor  comfortable  there. 

2.  Your  note  to  me  of  April  23  (covering  the  printed  letter,  but  not 
•mentioning  if)  contains  several  phrases  which  I  am  persuaded  you  would 
not  have  used  if  left  to  your  own  free  action.     The  note  begins  by  stating 
its  mian  object  thus:   "I  write  hurriedly  to  say  that  I  have  consented  to 
the  publication  of  my  letter  to  you,  with  the  hope,"  etc.     Which  letter  to 
me?     I  have  received  several  letters  from  you,  but  none  of  the  19th 
of  April.     "Consented  to  the  publication" — at  whose  instance?    The 
phrase  and  the  context  invite  the  inference  that  the  publication  was  made 
at  my  instance,  and  that  inference  was,  I  believe,  generally  drawn  in  this 
city,  and  will  probably  be  drawn  all  over  the  country ;  whereas  you  do 
know  that  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  its  publication. 

The  note  concludes  with  this  very  suggestive  line,  "I  am  not  at  liberty 
to  speak  of  what  is  going  on  here."  I  can  earnestly  comprehend  that 
humiliating  fact ;  and  I  do  painfully  sympathize  with  you,  and  with  all 
good  and  faithful  men  in  my  native  state,  when  I  behold  the  capital  of 
the  once  free  and  proud  Virginia  subjected  to  the  tyranny  of  a  lawless 
mob. 

M 


266  APPENDIX. 

3.  The  printed  letter.  Alas,  that  I  should  live  to  see  such  a  letter 
under  the  hand  of  the  gallant  and  gifted  John  M.  Botts !  I  shall  not 
go  into  any  minute  criticism  of  the  letter  to  show  how  it  contradicts  all 
the  main  facts  in  your  high  and  honorable  political  history,  and  counter 
marched  the  whole  line  of  your  active  and  useful  career  onward  and  up 
ward  for  the  last  thirty  years.  My  personal  regard  and  my  great  respect 
for  your  character  forbids  me  to  do  that.  But  I  can  not  forbear  to  say 
that  the  whole  scope  and  tendency  of  the  letter,  if  not  its  design,  is  an  ar 
gument  in  favor  of  dissolving  the  Union,  and  blotting  from  the  map  of 
the  world  the  nation  of  the  United  States.  It  is  a  silent  approval  (by  fail 
ing  to  condemn)  of  the  violent  and  revolutionary  proceedings  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  Southern  States  (in  several  of  them  before  the  idle  form  of  se 
cession  was  gone  through  with)  in  plundering  the  money  and  arms  and 
other  property  of  the  United  States ;  in  seizing  upon  our  ungarrisoned 
forts ;  in  making  open  war  upon  such  as  refused  to  surrender ;  in  firing 
upon,  and  in  some  instances  actually  degrading  the  flag  of  our  country ; 
and  in  schemes  and  projects  boastfully  announced  in  the  public  press, 
and  partially  acted  out  in  military  preparations,  to  seize  this  capital  by 
violence  and  break  up  the  government. 

Your  letter  does  not  in  terms  assert,  but  by  necessary  implication  as 
sumes  that  this  administration  can,  if  it  will,  restore  the  peace  of  the 
country  by  the  cheap  and  easy  experiment  of  issuing  a  proclamation 
"proposing  a  truce  of  hostilities  and  the  immediate  assembling  of  a  na 
tional  convention !"  It  seems  to  me,  my  dear  sir,  that  there  are  some  se 
rious  objections  to  this  cheap  plan  of  peace,  and,  first,  the  President  has 
no  power  to  call  a  national  convention.  Second,  if  he  did  call  it,  there  is 
not  the  remotest  probability  that  the  insurgent  states  would  obey  the  call. 
Third,  if  they  did  obey  it,  there  is  little  hope  that  they  would  agree  to 
come  in  on  equal  terms  with  the  other  states,  by  recanting  their  recent 
assumption  of  separate  and  absolute  sovereignty,  and  by  restoring  all  that 
they  have  taken  by  violence  from  the  United  States.  In  short,  after  all 
that  is  past,  it  seems  to  me  that  there  are  but  two  alternatives  left  to  this 
administration :  first,  to  submit  implicitly  to  all  the  claims  of  the  insur 
gent  states,  and  quietly  consent  to  a  dismemberment  of  the  nation,  or, 
second,  to  do  its  best  to  restore  peace,  law,  and  order  by  supporting  "  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws."  Let  the 
nation  judge  which  horn  of  the  dilemma  the  administration  ought  to  take, 
in  view  of  all  its  obligations  in  regard  to  the  permanent  interests  of  the 
country,  and  to  its  own  patriotism  and  constitutional  duty. 


APPENDIX.  267 

I  am  amazed  at  the  course  of  things  in  Virginia.  Your  Convention  was 
not  called  to  dissolve  the  Union,  nor  trusted  with  the  power  of  secession. 
By  the  act  of  its  creation  that  sovereign  power  was  reserved  to  the  people 
of  Virginia.  Yet  as  soon  as  the  Convention  had  secretly  acted  upon  the 
subject,  without  any  promulgation  of  the  ordinance,  and  while  the  people 
were  yet  ignorant  of  its  existence,  the  executive  officers  of  Virginia  rushed 
incontinently  into  open  war  against  the  United  States.  They  endeavored 
to  obstruct  the  harbor  of  Norfolk  in  order  to  secure  the  plunder  of  the 
navy-yard  at  Gosport,  and  sent  a  military  power  to  complete  the  work  of 
its  spoliation.  The  enterprise  failed,  indeed,  to  clutch  the  spoil,  but  it 
caused  the  destruction  of  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  public  property. 
The  same  thing  was  attempted  in  reference  to  Harper's  Ferry,  and  was 
only  frustrated  because  the  vigilant  little  garrison,  knowing  its  inability  to 
resist  such  superior  numbers,  destroyed  the  property  and  made  good  its 
retreat.  They  menaced  this  capital  by  open  threats  of  military  force,  by 
obstructing  the  roads  leading  to  it,  and  by  active  endeavors  to  command 
the  navigation  of  the  Potomac.  And  all  this  was  done  while  the  state, 
according  to  the  letter  of  its  own  law,  remained  a  member  of  the  Union. 

Think  you,  my  dear  sir,  that  men  who  do  these  things  in  open  day,  and 
in  contempt  of  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  people  of  Virginia,  have  such 
a  reverence  for  "reason,  order,  law,  liberty,  morality,  and  religion"  as  to 
give  much  heed  to  the  President's  "proclamation  proposing  a  truce?"  I 
lack  the  faith  to  believe  it. 

In  conclusion,  I  assure  you  in  all  sincerity  that  I  do  deeply  sympathize 
in  your  present  distress.  I  love  the  people  of  my  native  state,  and  mourn 
over  the  guilt  and  wretchedness  into  which  they  thoughtlessly  allow  them 
selves  to  be  plunged  by  their  reckless  misleaders. 

Wijjfi  long-cherished  respect  and  regard,  I  remain  your  obedient  serv 
ant,  EDWARD  BATES. 

It  was  only  within  the  last  few  days  (now  March,  18GG),  to  my  infinite 
surprise,  I  ascertained  that  the  great  injustice  had  been  done  me  by  my 
old  and  valued  friend,  Mr.  Bates,  of  publishing  all  his  letters  to  me  dur 
ing  the  rebellion,  when  I  had  no  access  to  the  Northern  papers,  while 
two  of  mine  to  him,  which  were  indispensable  to  a  full  and  fair  under 
standing  of  my  position  and  motives,  were,  for  some  cause  that  I  am  una 
ble  to  comprehend,  withheld  from  the  public  eye.  Taking  his  letters  to 
me,  which  contained  rather  severe  and  altogether  unjust  criticisms  on  mine 
to  him,  which  would  have  explained  every  thing  satisfactorily,  I  am  not 


268  APPENDIX. 

at  all  surprised  that  some  of  my  Union  friends  should  for  the  time  being 
have  regarded  me  as  occupying  a  somewhat  doubtful  position,  or  as  hav 
ing  "  backed  down"  and  made  concessions  to  the  secession  spirit  of  the 
South,  which  no  human  being  south  of  the  Potomac  ever,  for  a  transitory 
moment,  was  permitted  to  suspect.  Fortunately  for  me,  subsequent  events, 
embracing  my  free  and  outspoken  denunciation  of  the  rebellion  and  of  all 
who  exercised  an  agency  in  bringing  it  on,  together  with  my  arrest  and 
imprisonment  for  my  loyalty  to  the  Union,  served  to  remove  the  injurious 
suspicion  that  had  been  so  unjustifiably  created.  I  am  glad  the  opportu 
nity  is  now  offered  to  supply  the  suppressed  letters  from  me  to  Mr.  Bates, 
each  in  their  regular  order ;  and  here  follows  my  reply  to  Mr.  Bates's  let 
ter  of  April  29,  not  heretofore  published. 

Richmond,  May  2, 1861. 
To  Hon.  EDWABD  BATES,  Attorney  General,  etc. : 

DEAR  SIR, — By  yesterday's  mail  I  received  your  letter  of  the  29th,  and 
I  will  not  trust  myself  to  picture  the  mortification  and  pain  it  gave  me  to 
read  it,  not  only  for  the  spirit  of  war  that  it  breathed  toward  your  own 
countrymen,  among  whom  the  friends  and  enemies  of  the  government 
were  promiscuously  and  inseparably  identified,  but  also  for  the  manifest 
injustice  done  to  my  own  motives  and  conduct  in  an  honest  and  patriotic 
endeavor  to  arrest  in  time  the  carnage  and  human  suffering  that  must  in 
evitably  follow  on  both  sides  in  the  wake  of  this  unnatural  and  horrible 
war  that  it  is  now  but  too  clear  is  to  be  inaugurated. 

Before  I  proceed  farther,  let  me  make  one  word  of  explanation  as  to 
the  printed  copy  of  my  letter  being  sent  you  through  Colonel  Russell,  and 
on  which  you  have  commented  with  some  feeling,  not  warranted,  I  think, 
by  the  circumstances. 

My  letter  of  the  19th  to  you,  which  it  seems  was  not  delivered,  was 
written  without  consultation  with  or  knowledge  of  any  human  being  on 
earth.  While  I  was  engaged  in  writing  it,  Mr.  Whittington,  of  Alexan 
dria,  came  in,  and  I  communicated  to  him  the  object  of  the  work  on  which 
I  was  then  employed,  but  expressed  a  doubt  whether  the  letter  would  reach 
you  by  mail,  as  it  was  understood  that  the  Post-office  had  been  seized,  and 
that  all  letters  from  and  to  Washington  were  examined  before  delivery, 
and  that  I* believed  your  letter  to  me  had  been  opened  before  I  received 
it.  Mr.  Whittington  then  proposed  to  take  charge  of  the  letter  himself 
and  see  that  it  was  put  safely  into  your  hands,  and  he  left  here  on  Sunday 
morning  with  the  letter  and  under  that  pledge,  which  I  had  no  reason 


APPENDIX.  269 

then  to  doubt  would  be  faithfully  redeemed;  your  letter  of  last  night  was 
the  first  intimation  I  had  that  it  had  not  been. 

No  secessionist  had  ever  seen  my  letter  until  it  was  published,  and  the 
publication  was  elicited  by  my  friends,  and  your  friends,  gentlemen  of  the 
Union  party,  who  believed  with  me  that  its  publication  would  encourage 
the  Union  men  of  the  state  to  hold  on  until  the  last  hope  for  peace  had 
vanished,  and  that  if  the  letter  could  produce  the  hoped-for  effect,  we 
should  still  be  able  to  save  Virginia  to  the  Union  ;  and  then,  in  writing  to 
Colonel  Russell,  I  inclosed  the  note  to  you  embracing  a  printed  copy  of  the 
letter  which  I  supposed  had  then  been  in  your  possession  for  several  days. 
The  circumstances  attending  the  publication  of  the  letter  were  explained 
in  an  accompanying  note  published  with  it,  which  relieved  you  of  all 
complicity  in  its  being  made  public,  which  you  seem  so  much  to  appre 
hend.  So  much  for  that. 

You  pay  me  a  very  poor  compliment,  Mr.  Bates,  when  you  avow  your 
conviction  that  I  wrote  that  letter  "  under  duress,  that  I  had  become  a 
victim  of  a  set  of  desperadoes,"  and  that  I  had  made  myself  a  party  to  a 
concerted  plan  or  scheme,  invented  not  by  the  brave  and  patriotic  Bolts,  but 
by  these  same  conspirators,"  etc.,  etc.,  who  hoped  by  such  means  to  win  a 
victory  or  destroy  the  nation  by  a  less  hazardous  but  more  cunning  proc 
ess  than  by  bullying  violence. 

You  know  very  little  of  me,  Mr.  Bates,  if  you  suppose  me  capable  of 
writing  letters  under  duress,  or  of  entering  into  the  conspiracies  of  those 
who  I  regard  as  my  most  embittered  enemies ;  and  such  a  declaration  from 
your  pen  has  struck  me  with  a  degree  of  amazement  (I  forbear  to  say  in 
dignation)  that  your  own  sensibilities  as  a  gentleman  upon  reflection  will 
enable  you  to  comprehend  far  better  than  my  pen  can  describe.  I  should 
be  sorry  to  think  that  a  reperusal  of  my  letter  and  your  own  will  not  oc 
casion  a  pang  of  regret  in  your  bosom  for  an  injury  and  injustice  to  a 
friend  that  I  have  heretofore  held  you  to  be  altogether  incapable  of  in 
flicting. 

So  far  from  having  written  "under  duress,"  or  at  the  instigation  of  the 
"conspirators"  of  whom  you  speak,  the  writing  and  publication  of  that 
letter  drew  .from  them  the  most  unmeasured  denunciation  and  abuse;  it 
created  a  wild  excitement  that  many  of  my  friends  earnestly  thought  en 
dangered  my  personal  safety,  and  advised  me  to  leave  the  city,  which  I 
scorned  to  do,  though  my  body  might  be  riddled  with  bullets.  They 
charged  me  with  conspiring  against  them  by  the  exposure  of  their  weak 
ness  and  of  your  strength,  and  now  the  charge  comes  in  turn  from  you 


270  APPENDIX. 

that  I  am  the  tool  of  a  conspiracy  against  the  government  I  have  so  faith 
fully  upheld. 

You  say  my  note  (through  Colonel  Russell)  "concluded  with  this  sug 
gestive  line,  '/  am  not  at  liberty  to  speak  of  what  is  going  on  here.'  "  Nor 
was  I :  first,  for  the  reason  that  it  would  have  been  held  to  have  been  in 
violation  of  my  duty  to  my  state ;  and  secondly,  because  it  was  understood 
that  the  Post-office  here  was  then  under  the  control  of  an  irresponsible  body 
of  men,  and  it  would  never  have  reached  you  or  Colonel  Russell  either  ; 
and  as  Colonel  Russell  did  not  receive  my  letter  until  last  Saturday,  the 
presumption  is  that  it  was  overhauled  before  it  was  sent  from  here.  Again 
you  say,  "The  printed  letter.  Alas,  that  I  should  live  to  see  such  a  letter 
under  the  hand  of  the  gallant  and  gifted  John  M.  Botts  !  I  shall  not  go 
into  any  minute  criticism  of  the  letter  to  show  that  it  contradicts  all  the 
main  facts  in  your  high  and  honorable  political  history,  and  counter 
marches  the  whole  line  of  your  active  and  useful  career  onward  and  up 
ward  for  the  last  thirty  years. " 

What  is  there,  Mr.  Bates,  in  that  letter  to  justify  this  wholesale  con 
demnation  of  an  effort  to  stay  the  hand  of  war  among  my  own  country 
men?  What  part  of  my  past  history  does  it  contradict?  In  what  does 
it  countermarch  the  whole  line  of  an  extremely  active  if  not  useful  life — 
onward  it  may  have  been,  but  doicmcard  rather  than  upward,  for  the  last 
twelve  years,  only  because  throughout  that  whole  period  of  time  I  strug 
gled  with  intense  earnestness  and  anxiety  to  preserve  the  peace  of  my 
country,  and  keep  down  sectional  conflicts  ?  When  have  I  been  an  ad 
vocate  for  civil  war?  What  is  it,  I  ask,  that  has  thus  amazed  you?  In 
what  do  the  suggestions  of  that  letter  differ  from  those  I  made  to  you  in 
Washington,  when  you  not  only  found  no  such  fault,  but  voluntarily  ad 
dressed  a  note  to  the  President  saying  I  had  important  suggestions  to 
make  to  him  ?  And  so  anxious  was  Mr.  Seward  on  the  subject,  that  he 
asked  me  to  lose  no  time  in  laying  them  before  the  President,  who  him 
self  received  them  with  much  favor,  and  said  they  should  receive  his  full 
est  consideration.  What  were  those  suggestions?  Why,  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  those  contained  in  my  letter  to  you :  that  a  national  con 
vention  should  be  called,  and  leave  be  given  to  the  seceded  states  to  with 
draw.  The  only  difference  then  and  now  is,  that  the  war  had  not  then 
commenced,  and  now  it  has ;  that  then  this  proposition  might  have  been 
rejected  without  war,  and  now  it  can  not,  which  gives  the  greater  strength 
to  the  proposition  now  than  then. 

When,  and  under  what  circumstances,  did  I  become  an  advocate  of  dis- 


APPENDIX.  271 

union?  Only  when  it  became  a  fixed  and  irremediable  fact!  when,  at 
one  dash  of  the  pen,  as  gallant  and  devoted  a  party  of  Union  men  through 
out  this  and  other  Southern  States  as  the  land  could  boast,  was  sponged 
out  and  crushed  into  the  earth  as  effectually  as  the  pencil-marks  upon  a 
slate  could  have  been,  and  when  the  simple  alternative  was  presented  of 
separation  with  war,  or  separation  without  it !  Then  it  was  that  7,  who 
had  been  for  thirty  years  an  object  of  extreme  hatred,  and  of  the  most 
malignant  denunciation  of  the  disunion  party,  seeing  that  dissolution  was 
inevitable,  that  the  revolution  had  been  permitted  to  be  carried  too  far 
to  be  controlled,  sought  to  bring  about  a  quiet  and  peaceful  solution  of 
the  question,  rather  than  witness  the  scenes  of  anarchy  and  distress,  of 
slaughter  and  of  waste,  of  misery  and  destitution  that  must  follow,  and  at 
last  end,  as  end  it  must,  in  permanent  disruption  and  eternal  hate.  And 
it  is  for  this  that  I  am  thus  arraigned  by  you. 

Mr.  Bates,  in  perfect  frankness  and  without  offense,  let  me  tell  you  that 
the  man  who  dreams  that  this  Union  can  now  be  reconstructed,  and 
amity  restored  by  the  subjugation  of  those  states  now  in  rebellion,  is  more 
blind  than  the  mole ;  for  he  is  not  only  without  sight,  but  without  the  in 
stincts  of  that  animal  that  never  works  in  the  light  of  the  sun. 

So  far,  then,  from  feeling  that  my  efforts  to  save  my  country  from  such 
a  civil  strife  as  we  must  now  encounter  have  rendered  me  justly  obnox 
ious  to  censure,  it  will  be  the  glory  of  my  future  days,  as  it  is  now  my 
pride,  that  I  have  done  all  that  lay  in  my  power  to  avert  this  heavy  ca 
lamity  from  the  land  of  my  birth,  and  from  the  people  whom  I  have  loved 
and  looked  upon  as  one.  "Who  feels  differently  is  welcome  to  the  honors 
posterity  will  award  them. 

But  you  add  that  my  letter  -"is  a  silent  approval  (by  failing  to  con 
demn)  of  violent  and  revolutionary  proceedings  of  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States,  in  plundering  the  money  and  arms  and  other  property 
of  the  United  States ;  in  seizing  upon  our  ungarrisoned  forts  ;  in  making 
war  upon  such  as  refused  to  surrender;  in  firing  upon,  and  in  some  in 
stances  degrading  the  flag  of  our  countiy ;  and  in  schemes  and  projects 
boastfully  announced  in  the  public  press,  and  partially  acted  out  in  mili 
tary  preparations  to  seize  this  capital  by  violence  and  break  up  the  gov 
ernment." 

Now,  Mr.  Bates,  suppose  it  were  true  that  I  had  omitted  to  express  any 
opinion  on  these  points ;  in  what  should  it  have  surprised  you  or  justified 
the  interpretation  you  have  put  upon  it,  that  I  gave  to  all  this  a  silent  ap 
proval  ?  My  letter,  as  I  have  shown,  was  never  intended  for  publication, 


272  APPENDIX. 

and  was  written  only  for  your  own  eye  and  for  the  Cabinet,  if  you  had 
deigned,  as  I  asked  you,  to  lay  it  before  them  for  consideration,  and  you 
and  they  were  already  familiar  with  my  views  on  that  subject,  and  you  had 
them  in  a  printed  form,  in  a  letter  which  you  asked  for,  to  be  preserved, 
addressed  to  certain  gentlemen  who  called  upon  me  to  become  a  candi 
date  for  the  convention,  and  in  which  I  had  already  expressed  my  con 
demnation,  in  the  most  unmistakable  terms,  of  those  very  acts  to  which 
you  refer. 

But  is  it  true,  in  point  of  fact,  that  in  my  letter  to  you  I  gave  them  a 
silent  approval  (by  failing  to  condemn]  those  acts  of  violence  and  revolu 
tion?  Such  was  not  the  reading  given  to  that  letter  by  the  secession 
party  here.  Such  is  not  the  construction  that  will  be  given  by  you  on  a 
fairer  and  more  dispassionate  reading  of  that  letter  again.  Let  me  call 
your  attention  to  the  paragraph  which  contains  these  words,  "No  one  can 
condemn  MORE  SEVERELY  the  immediate  causes  that  have  so  unnecessarily  led 
us  into  this  awful  and  terrible  catastrophe  than  I  do, "  and  then  let  me  ask 
you  if  this  can  be  construed  into  a  silent  approval  by  a  failure  to  condemn? 

I  hope  you  will  pardon  me  for  saying  that  the  enumeration  of  all  these 
acts  of  violence  might,  with  far  more  propriety,  have  found  a  place  in  the 
proclamation  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  large  numbers  of  whom  have 
never  heard  of  them  to  this  day,  than  in  your  letter  to  me,  to  whom  they 
were  all  familiar. 

But  I  will  conclude  this  letter,  already  perhaps  too  long,  by  saying  that 
I  knew  that  the  President  had  no  power  to  demand,  but  that  he  could 
recommend  a  national  convention,  which  would  not  be  without  its  influ 
ence  ;  and  second,  that  it  was  no  part  of  my  calculation  that  the  seceded 
states  were  to  compose  a  part  of  the  convention  called  to  give  them  leave 
to  withdraw,  but  that  this  would  be  done  by  all  those  states  that  had  no 
desire  to  withdraw,  and  lastly,  that  on  the  issuing  of  such  a  proclamation, 
both  parties  would  await  its  action,  which  could  be  held  as  well  in  a 
month  as  in  a  year ;  as  every  state  could  in  that  time  appoint  its  dele 
gates  except  California  and  Oregon,  whose  votes  would  not  alter  the  re 
sult  if  the  recommendation  was  adopted,  as  I  have  no  doubt  it  would  be, 
for  the  countiy  prefers  peace  to  war,  and  would  make  any  sacrifice  to 
avoid  the  latter  which  their  honor  would  permit. 

I  regret  extremely  the  turn  this  correspondence  has  taken,  but  your  let 
ter,  which  I  hope  implied  more  than  was  designed,  leaves  me  no  choice 
on  the  subject,  and,  under  the  indulgence  of  this  hope,  I  subscribe  myself, 
as  ever,  your  friend,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 


APPENDIX.  273 

Mr.  Bates's  next  letter  to  me,  in  reply  to  the  preceding  letter  to  him  : 

Washington,  May  5,  1SC1. 
Hon.  JOHN  M.  BOTTS,  Richmond,  Va. : 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — In  answer  to  your  letter  of  May  2,  I  have  not  and 
ought  not  to  have  much  to  say.  This  much,  however,  both  my  inclina 
tion  and  my  duty  require  me  to  say  :  my  personal  respect  for  you  remains 
undiminished.  My  friendly  feelings  toward  you  are  not  only  not  dimin 
ished,  but  are  made  more  deep  and  tender  by  the  distressing  circum 
stances  which  surround  you.  And  these  facts  make  me  regret  very  much 
that  I  should  have  been  compelled  by  circumstances  to  write  you  such  a 
letter  as  to  inflict  any  pain  or  mortification,  and  especially  to  the  degree 
indicated  by  your  answer,  and  explained  more  at  large  by  the  friend  who 
bore  it.  I  disclaim  all  intention  to  wound  your  feelings,  or  to  offer  you 
the  slightest  indignity ;  and  if  there  be  any  thing  in  my  letter  from  which 
an  intention  to  insult  you  can  possibly  be  inferred,  I  retract  it. 

This  much  I  say  with  the  intention  and  hope  of  preventing  any  breach, 
or  even  weakening  of  the  personal  relations  between  us.  Let  us  be  friends 
still. 

But  it  seems,  now  that  we  differ  so  widely  in  opinion  upon  matters  of 
fact,  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  reason  upon  the  same  line  of  argument. 
You  think  that  the  Union  is  already  dissolved,  the  nation  already  de 
stroyed  !  On  the  contrary,  I  believe  no  such  thing.  You  believe  that  a 
peaceful  dissolution  of  the  Union,  in  the  manner  and  by  the  means  al 
ready  employed,  is  possible.  I  believe  it  impossible.  I  believe  that  the  in 
sane  effort  at  national  destruction,  persisted  in,  will  involve  a  war  more  ter 
rible  than  any  the  world  has  witnessed  since  the  thirty  years'  war  in  Ger 
many.  You  think  that  a  great  nation  like  this  can  consent  to  die,  and  may 
hope  to  die  an  easy  death.  I  think  that  nations,  like  individuals,  are  under 
God's  great  law  of  self-defense,  and  when  pressed  down  by  superior  force 
will  die  in  convulsive  agonies.  You  seem  to  think  that  Virginia  can  go 
out  of  the  Union  and  still  preserve  her  integral  statehood.  I  think  that 
when  she  dismembers  the  nation  she  will  herself  be  dismembered. 

But  I  will  not.  continue  the  contrast.  My  heart  is  sorrowful  when  I 
contemplate  the  present  degradation  of  Virginia.  "  How  are  the  mighty 
fallen  !"  With  the  loss  of  her  power  she  has  lost  all  prestige  also,  and 
can  no  longer  lead  the  people  and  direct  the  counsels  of  other  states.  She 
remembers  her  patriots  and  sages  of  former  times,  only  to  boast  of  them — 
not  to  imitate  their  talents  and  virtues,  but  (by  implicit  faith)  to  impute 
to  the  present  generation  the  posthumous  reputation  of  the  glorious  dead. 

M2 


274  APPENDIX. 

Formerly  she  proudly  marched  in  the  van  of  all  the  states ;  now  she 
creeps  in  the  rear  of  South  Carolina,  and  consents  to  be  detailed  as  a 
picket-guard  to  man  an  outpost  of  the  Cotton  States. 

Poor  old  Virginia!  In  my  heart  I  pity  her.  Already  they  boast  in 
the  South  that  they  have  transferred  the  seat  of  war  from  their  homes  to 
yours.  And  soon  their  devouring  legions  will  be  upon  you,  to  eat  up  your 
substance  and  do  your  voting  at  the  disunion  election.  Now  mark  my 
prophecy :  unless  Virginia,  by  a  rapid  revolution,  redeem  herself  from 
the  gulf  that  lies  open  just  before  her,  she  will  be  degraded,  impoverished, 
and  dismembered.  For  her,  I  hope  almost  against  hope.  And  for  you, 
I  remain,  as  heretofore,  your  friend,  EDWARD  BATES. 

Next  comes  my  letter  to  him,  also  suppressed. 

Richmond,  May  9th,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  was  much  gratified  last  night  on  receiving  your  let 
ter  of  the  5th,  as  it  fully  re-establishes  our  former  relations,  and  I  assure 
you  that  all  unpleasant  recollections  of  our  recent  correspondence  are  for 
ever  dismissed  from  my  mind. 

I  have  no  idea  of  pressing  my  views  (founded  upon  deep  conviction 
that  time  will  vindicate  their  soundness  and  propriety),  but  I  desire  to 
make  one  or  two  brief  explanations,  in  justice  to  myself,  on  points  upon 
which  I  have  been  misunderstood. 

1st.  When  I  spoke  of  the  proclamation  of  the  15th  as  being,  in  many 
respects,  the  most  unfortunate  document  that  ever  issued  from  the  public 
press,  I  did  not  mean  to  say  that  the  administration  was  censurable  for 
making  a  call  for  forces  to  protect  the  capital  of  the  nation,  or  for  vindi 
cating  the  honor  of  its  flag;  but  that  it  was  unfortunate  in  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  put  before  the  country,  and  for  the  effect  it  produced  by 
sweeping  out  of  existence  at  one  breath,  as  it  were,  the  Union  party  of  the 
South,  who  might  have  been  rallied  to  the  support  of  the  government  by 
a  simple  recital  of  all  the  wrongs  that  had  been  committed,  from  the  first 
seizure  of  public  property  down  to  the  firing  upon  Fort  Sumter,  and  then 
by  making  such  an  appeal  to  the  loyalty  and  patriotism  of  the  country  as 
General  Jackson,  a  Southern  man,  strong  in  the  confidence  and  affections 
of  the  South,  found  it  necessary  to  make  in  1832.  The  naked  call  for 
seventy-five  thousand  troops,  without  all  this,  left  it  in  the  power  of  wick 
ed  men  to  misrepresent  the  purposes  designed,  and  to  create  a  false 
impression  that  dethroned  all  reason,  and  substituted  criminal  passion  in 
its  stead. 


APPENDIX.  275 

2d.  You  mistake  me  in  supposing  that  I  have  proposed  that  "this 
great  nation  should  consent  to  die."  Not  so  ;  as  you  must  have  seen  by 
my  second  letter,  which  Mr.  Lewis  was  charged  to  deliver  to  you.  It  is 
true  that  I  think  the  Union  as  it  icas  is  dead,  never  to  be  revived,  more 
especially  by  force,  but  honestly  believing  that  twenty  or  more  states, 
with  twenty  millions  of  people,  united  and  without  any  jarring  elements 
in  their  midst,  would  be  stronger  than  thirty  millions  divided  and  dis 
tracted,  surrounded  by  the  antagonistic  elements  of  free  and  slave  labor, 
which  has  led  to  present  troubles,  I  thought  a  peaceful  separation  would 
perpetuate  and  strengthen  your  government,  while  you  know  that  my 
judgment  has  ever  been  that  the  Southern  Confederacy  would  prove  a 
failure,  and  that  they  would  ultimately  seek  (in  the  absence  of  war)  a  re 
union  with  the  old  government  on  such  terms  as  both  parties  might  be 
willing  to  accept. 

However,  a  year  from  this  time,  or  less,  will  probably  bring  us  together 
on  this  subject ;  experience  will  prove  that  I  am  wrong,  in  which  event  I 
will  confess  my  error,  or  it  will  prove  that  you  are  laboring  under  a  delu 
sion,  when  your  own  manliness  will  compel  you  to  a  similar  confession. 

But  if  you  are  right  in  your  conjecture  that  "we  shall  be  involved  in 
a  war  more  terrible  than  the  world  has  witnessed  since  the  thirty  years' 
war  in  Germany,"  how  can  you  attach  blame  to  me  for  an  effort  to  save 
my  country  from  such  horror  and  misery  as  it  must  carry  with  it  ? 

There  are  two  events  in  my  life  of  which  I  can  never  be  made  ashamed  ; 
first,  that  I  did  all  in  my  power  to  save  the  Union,  and  second,  that  when 
I  felt  that  that  was  lost,  I  did  all  in  my  power  to  prevent  the  civil  war 
that  is  to  follow. 

I  am  very  truly  your  friend,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

P.S. — I  concur  in  all  you  say  respecting  the  action  of  this  state. 

The  object  of  my  proposition  was  to  save  Virginia  (that  had  yet  to  give 
her  popular  vote  on  the  ordinance  of  secession),  and  through  Virginia,  the 
other  Border  States,  to  the  Union,  and  thus  leave  the  Cotton  or  Gulf  States 
to  themselves;  in  which  case,  if  matters  had  not  been  otherwise  satisfac 
torily  settled,  then  through  the  operation  of  what  was  understood  to  be 
the  "Monroe  Doctrine,"  or  the  principles  of  the  "Ostend  Manifesto"  as 
laid  down  by  Southern  Democracy,  or  from  difficulties  resulting  from  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River,  we  should  have  had  ^foreign  instead 
of  a  civil  war,  in  which  the  Border  States  would  have  had  no  pretext  for 
uniting  with  the  rebellion,  without  even  in  their  own  minds,  beyond  all 


276  APPENDIX. 

doubt,  incurring  the  penalties  of  treason — all  of  which  was  subsequently 
explained  to  Mr.  Bates  by  the  gentleman  (Mr.  John  F.  Lewis)  who  hand 
ed  him  my  last  letter  in  person,  but  which  I  thought  it  would  be  indiscreet 
to  embody  in  the  correspondence,  as  all  letters  to  and  from  me  were  at 
that  time  opened  and  read. 

That  the  suggestions  here  made,  and  so  much  objected  to  by  Mr.  Bates, 
were  not  made,  as  he  supposed,  under  duress  or  at  the  instigation  of  oth 
ers,  may  be  clearly  and  distinctly  established,  I  here  give  the  following 
extracts  from  a  letter  written  by  me  in  reply  to  an  invitation  to  unite  in 
the  celebration  of  the  22d  of  February  in  Troy,  New  York,  in  1SG1,  which 
it  will  be  seen  corresponds  with  the  suggestions  to  Mr.  Bates  in  my  first 
letter  to  him,  and  is  precisely  the  same  proposition  I  made  in  Washing 
ton,  and  that  I  had  every  reason  to  believe  met  with  the  approval  of  Mr. 
Bates  and  Mr.  Seward,  and  was  treated  with  marked  consideration  by 
Mr.  Lincoln.  If  they  were  as  obnoxious  to  Mr.  Bates  at  that  time  as  they 
afterward  proved  to  be,  he  did  not  deal  with  me  in  that  spirit  of  candor 
and  friendship  that  at  the  time  he  professed.  It  is  very  painful  to  me  to 
labor  under  the  necessity  of  recurring  to  this  subject,  but  as  I  am  aiming 
to  vindicate  my  past  course,  I  think  it  will  be  conceded  that  no  alternative 
is  left  me. 

Extracts  from  the  Troy  Letter. 

"But  the  evil  is  upon  us,  and  the  question  is,  What  can  be  done  for  our 
salvation  ? 

"There  are  two  rocks,  upon  either  of  which,  if  we  strike,  we  must  be 
shipwrecked.  The  ship  of  state  is  running  with  a  full  head  of  steam  down 
a  rapid  current,  with  secession  on  the  one  hand,  and  civil  war  in  some 
shape  on  the  other.  Can  both  be  avoided?  Can  we  pass  between  the 
two  ?  The  seceding  states  declare  most  peremptorily  that  no  compromise 
will  now  be  accepted ;  that  no  proposal  for  reconstruction,  or  of  their  res 
toration  to  the  Union,  will  be  entertained ;  that  the  recognition  of  inde 
pendence  and  of  their  right  to  secede  must  be  acknowledged,  or  that  war 
must  ensue ;  and  their  nominal  President  declares  'that  a  union  with  us  is 
neither  practicable  nor  desirable ;'  and  he  threatens  'that  all  who  oppose 
them  shall  smell  Southern  powder  and  feel  Southern  steel.' 

"  I  take  it  for  granted  that  the  right  of  any  state  to  annul  the  Constitu 
tion  and  separate  herself  from  the  rest  of  the  states,  when  no  right  is  ac 
knowledged  on  the  part  of  all  the  others  to  get  rid  of  that  state,  however 
obnoxious  she  may  prove  herself  to  be,  never  will  be  recognized  by  the 


APPENDIX.  277 

people  or  the  government  of  the  United  States  under  any  circumstances 
whatever,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  may. 

"It  is  a  proposition  not  to  be  entertained  for  a  moment,  because  it  would 
not  only  destroy  the  whole  fabric  of  our  existing  institutions,  but  would 
utterly  annihilate  the  possibility  of  ever  establishing  any  other  permanent 
and  fixed  government  on  the  North  American  continent  than  that  of  an 
absolute  monarchy  or  despotism. 

"On  the  other  hand,  if  such  right  is  not  recognized,  howr  is  civil  war, 
in  some  shape  or  other,  arising  from  the  obligation  to  execute  the  laws, 
suppress  insurrections,  and  punish  treason,  to  be  avoided  ?  for  if  the  right 
of  secession  does  not  exist,  then  the  seceded  states  are  in  a  condition  of 
insurrection  and  treason,  the  first  of  which  must  be  put  down  and  the  lat 
ter  punished,  according  to  the  law  and  the  Constitution,  or  else  all  gov 
ernment  is  at  an  end. 

"  I  see  but  one  mode  by  which,  as  it  appears  to  me,  it  is  possible  to  steer 
clear  of  both  of  these  calamities,  and  that  is  to  call  a  convention  of  all 
the  states,  and  so  amend  the  Constitution  as  to  give  to  such  states  as  desire 
to  discontinue  their  connection  with  the  present  government  leave  to 
ivithdraw,  and  make  the  experiment  of  separate  independence ;  it  will  not 
take  twelve  months  to  bring  them  to  their  senses,  and  if  it  will  be  desira 
ble,  they  can  be  admitted  again,  on  condition  that  they  will  surrender  the 
absurdity  of  the  right  of  secession,  and  behave  themselves  better  for  the 
future.  This  will  save  the  constitutional  question,  and  avert  the  necessity 
for  civil  war  at  the  same  time,  and  likewise  save  the  necessity  of  hanging 
traitors  by  the  thousand,  or  of  having  the  laws  of  the  country  trampled 
with  impunity  under  foot. 

"Let  them  keep  the  forts,  arsenals,  arms,  ammunition,  revenue  cutters, 
etc.,  that  they  have  violently,  and  without  the  semblance  of  right,  unlaw 
fully  seized,  but  require  them  to  pay  for  them ;  and  if  they  are  not  ready 
to  pay  for  them  in  cash,  let  them  be  trusted,  but  let  them  settle  fair  if 
they  never  pay ;  they  will  be  glad  to  get  rid  of  the  expense  of  keeping 
them  in  less  than  a  year,  and  will  ask  leave  to  restore  them  to  their  right 
ful  owners ;  for  these  forts  are  the  property  of  the  United  States,  built  by 
and  held  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States  in  common,  in  which,  as 
lung  as  they  constituted  a  part  of  the  United  States,  they  had  a  certain 
interest,  as  they  had  in  the  army,  navy,  treasury,  public  lauds,  and  other 
property  of  the  United  States ;  but  the  moment  they  left  the  United 
States  their  right  and  interest  in  this  property  of  every  description  ceased 
as  effectually  as  if  the  same  number  of  its  citizens  had  removed  from  the 


278  APPENDIX. 

United  States  and  settled  themselves  in  Germany  or  Russia.  As  no  sin 
gle  state  is  responsible  for  any  part  of  the  debt  of  the  United  States,  so 
no  single  state  is  entitled  to  any  part  of  the  property  of  the  United  States ; 
while,  as  a  constituent  part  of  the  government,  they  are  equally  bound  for 
all  its  debts,  and  equally  interested  in  all  its  property ;  but  when  the  ob 
ligation  to  fulfill  its  contracts,  and  provide  for  the  payment  of  its  debts, 
and  defend  its  indebtedness  ceases,  or  is  withheld,  then  they  are,  to  all  in 
tents  and  purposes,  aliens  to  us  and  to  the  government,  and  have  forfeited 
all  claims  to  any  share  of  our  honor,  our  glory,  our  greatness,  our  proper 
ty,  and  our  future  destiny. 

"The  plan,  gentlemen,  which  I  have  here  suggested  for  the  settlement 
of  our  difficulties  may  be  objectionable  to  some,  but  no  plan  can  be  de 
vised  that  will  be  acceptable  to  all ;  and  this  appears  to  me  to  be  the  only 
one  by  which  we  can  possibly  avoid  one  or  the  other  of  two  evils,  either 
of  which  would  be  calamitous  and  ruinous  in  the  extreme.  If  the  sug 
gestion  should  lead  to  any  good  results,  I  shall  have  reason  to  thank  you 
for  the  opportunity  you  have  afforded  me  of  offering  it  to  you,  as  a  feeble 
contribution  on  my  part  for  the  preservation  of  the  work  of  our  national 
Father  on  the  commemoration  of  the  day  that  Providence  gave  him  to 
America  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  throughout  the  world ;  for  without  the 
benefit  of  his  great  and  illustrious  works,  he  will  have  lived  for  nothing." 

As  serving  to  show  in  what  regard  these  letters  were  received  in  other 
and  higher  quarters,  I  hope  I  may  stand  excused  for  making  use  of  the 
following  extracts  from  one  of  very  many  similar  letters  received  from 
different  sources  and  sections  of  the  country,  but  all  from  the  strongest 
friends  of  the  Union,  and  most  determined  opponents  to  secession. 

'l  May  20, 1861. 

"MY  DEAR  FRIEND, — Though  I  seem  to  be  forgotten  by  you,  I  can 
not  longer  withhold  from  you  the  expression  of  my  warmest  admiration 
for  your  letters  to  Mr.  Bates.  Your  noble  and  devoted  efforts  to  spare 
the  effusion  of  fraternal  blood  may  be  lost  sight  of  now  amid  the  wild 
and  mad  excitement  of  this  carnival  of  evil  passions,  but  whatever  the  re 
sult  of  the  civil  discord  which  now  distracts  our  bleeding  land  may  be, 
coming  generations  will  bless  your  name  for  the  effort  and  the  sacrifices 
you  have  made. 

"We  are  a  ruined  people.  The  only  interest  I  have  taken  in  politics 
for  several  years  past,  was  produced  by  the  hope  of  promoting,  through 
you,  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  Now  that  the  greatest  and  best 
government  the  world  has  ever  known  has  been  destroyed  by  wicked, 


APPENDIX.  279 

reckless,  and  corrupt  demagogues,  I  can  do  nothing  but  mourn  over  this 
consummation  of  human  folly,  until  I  may  be  called  on  to  fight  for  Vir 
ginia  in  a  struggle  which  I  had  no  hand  in  bringing  on. 

"I  have  read  your  letters  to  many  persons,  and  all  agree  in  praising 

them  and  honoring  you.     Old  Dr. ,  to  whom had  read  them, 

told  me,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  that  you  were  one  of  the  last  of  the  true 
patriots  and  wise  men  of  the  great  republic  that  now  exists  only  in 
history.  Sincerely  your  friend,  S.  C." 

THE   PARTICULARS   OF   MR.  BOTTS's   ARREST. 

After  this  last  effort  had  failed,  and  no  hope  of  a  peaceful  settlement 
was  left,  and  with  no  power  to  resist  the  storm  that  was  every  where 
sweeping  over  the  land,  when  the  whole  Southern  country  presented  the 
appearance  of  one  vast  lunatic  asylum  turned  loose  to  ravage  and  destroy 
whatever  crossed  their  path,  I  retired  to  the  country  with  a  determina 
tion,  as  no  means  were  left  me  by  which  to  serve  my  country,  that  no 
human  power,  no  despotic  torture,  should  ever  induce  me  to  take  part 
against  it  in  this  most  unprovoked,  uncalled-for,  and  wicked  war.  I  rarely 
left  my  premises ;  I  received  a  great  deal  of  company  under  my  own  roof, 
but  did  not  seek  it  elsewhere;  yet  I  never  withheld  or  concealed  my 
opinions  from  any.  These  opinions  it  was  supposed  were  exercising  some 
influence  upon  the  popular  mind ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  putting  a  pad 
lock  upon  every  man's  mouth,  and  thus  annihilating  all  freedom  of  speech, 
the  Confederate  Congress,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1862,  suspended  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  and  declared  martial  law,  thus  conferring  absolute  and 
dictatorial  power  'on  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  perhaps  the  most  unscrupulous 
despot  that  has  appeared  since  the  days  of  Nero. 

On  the  morning  of  the  2d,  a  little  before  the  break  of  day,  I  was  aroused 
from  my  sleep  by  the  assistant  provost-marshal — then  Captain,  but  sub 
sequently  General  Godwyn,  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  armed  men,  who 
had  surrounded  my  home — was  arrested  and  carried  off  to  a  filthy  negro 
jail,  where  I  was  imprisoned  for  eight  weeks  in  solitary  confinement, 
with  instructions  to  my  jailers  not  to  permit  any  one  to  speak  to  me,  nor 
I  to  them.  Not  even  a  chair  nor  a  table  were  furnished  me  by  those  who 
had  me  arrested,  but  I  was  graciously  allowed  to  supply  my  own  necessi 
ties  and  comforts,  which  I  did.  This  arrest  was  made  during  the  admin 
istration  of  the  '•'•little  Jeiv,  Benjamin,"  as  the  head  of  the  War  Depart 
ment,  who  at  once  forbid  all  intercourse  with  my  family  and  friends. 

I  was  the  first  victim  to  loyalty  in  the  state.     Franklin  Stearns,  from 


280  APPENDIX. 

his  confidence  in,  his  regard  for  and  intimacy  with  me,  was  the  second ; 
and  then  came  the  imprisonment  of  some  hundred  and  fifty  others,  to 
which  constant  accessions  were  made,  who  were  all  thrown  into  the  same 
loathsome  prison,  most  of  whom  were  afterward  sent  to  Salisbury,  North 
Carolina,  where,  from  exposure  and  barbarous  cruelty  (if  possible,  sur 
passing  the  horrors  of  Andersonville),  some  went  crazy,  many  died,  and 
all  suffered  materially  and  permanently  in  health,  while  their  wives  and 
little  children  were  left  at  home  to  brood  over  the  wrongs  and  oppression 
inflicted,  and  suffer  for  the  comforts  and  necessities  of  life.  In  the  prison 
where  I  was  confined,  these  men,  far  from  home,  were  left  with  a  naked 
floor  for  a  pallet,  a  billet  of  wood  for  a  pillow,  and  the  ceiling  for  a 
blanket,  while  at  Salisbury  it  was  even  Avorse,  for  they  were  exposed  to  all 
the  weather,  cold  rains  and  burning  suns  alternately. 

But  the  object  was  effected  by  my  arrest  and  imprisonment  and  that  of 
others:  it  effectually  scaled  every  man's  lips;  all  were  afraid  to  express 
their  opinions,  under  the  reign  of  terror  and  the  demands  of  despotism  that 
had  been  established  in  Richmond.  Every  man  felt  that  his  personal  liberty 
and  safety  required  silent  submission  to  the  tyranny  of  the  Confederacy. 

From  this  time  till  near  the  close  of  the  rebellion,  free-born  men  who 
had  as  much  interest  in  the  government  as  Jeff.  Davis  or  any  of  his  satel 
lites,  if  they  spoke  at  all,  talked  "  with  bated  breath  and  ivhispering  humble 
ness  ;"  many  dared  not  let  their  nearest  neighbors — some  even  of  their 
own  families  and  partners  in  business — know  their  honest  thoughts.  I 
have  myself  been,  often  told  by  gentlemen  of  the  first  respectability,  aft 
er  listening  to  my  conversation,  when  they  would  say  it  not  to  be  heard 
by  others,  "I  concur  in  every  word  )ou  said,  but  you  arc  the  only  man 
between  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Potomac  who  would  dare  to  express 
such  opinions  ;  but  if  it  were  known  that  I  said  this  to  you,  I  would  be 
in  Castle  Thunder  before  to-morrow  night,  while  another  and  another 
would  take  me  out  each  in  turn  to  tell  the  same  thing,  but  neither  dav- 
ing  to  let  his  friend  and  neighbor  know  what  the  other  thought." 

During  all  this  time,  they  were  not  only  conscripting  but  forcing  into 
the  hateful  ranks  of  the  Confederacy,  men  of  every  state  and  every  coun 
try,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  "  to  fight  the  peoples'  war  for  their  own 
freedom  and  independence,"  and  all  this  while  every  Southern  press  and 
every  secession  mouth  indulged  in  the  most  intemperate  and  vindictive 
denunciation  of  the  tyranny  and  despotism  practiced  at  Washington. 

Such  was  the  humiliation,  degradation,  and  punishment  awarded  to 
Union  men  in  the  South  for  their  loyalty  to  the  United  States,  by  the 


APPENDIX.  281 

very  men  who  are  even  now  permitted,  by  the  misplaced  reliance  and 
forbearance  on  the  part  of  the  President,  to  provide  and  furnish,  to  mark 
and  stigmatize,  to  lord  it  over  the  Union  men  with  an  iron  hand  when 
ever  and  wherever  they  can  be  reached.  Of  what  advantage  is  it,  it  may 
be  asked,  that  the  President  thinks  the  loyal  men  "inherited  the  estate" 
as  long  as  he  and  Congress  allow  the  disinherited  to  enjoy  the  income  ? 
Why  do  they  not  take  steps  to  put  the  rightful  owners  in  lawful  posses 
sion  ?  In  about  three  weeks  after  my  arrest,  this  corrupt  and  contemptible 
little  vagabond,  Benjamin,  who  was  characterized  by  the  President  him 
self  as  a  "  sneaking  thief  and  perjurer,"  was  transferred  to  the  State  Depart 
ment,  and  Mr.  George  W.  Eandolph  assumed  the  duties  of  the  Department 
of  War,  and  to  him  I  at  once  addressed  the  following  communication : 

MR.  BOTTS'S   LETTER   TO   G.  W.  RANDOLPH   IN   18G2. 

M'Daniels's  Negro  Jail,  March  22, 1SG2. 
Hon.  G.  W.  RANDOLPH,  Secretary  of  War: 

DEAR  SIR, — It  is  well  known  to  you  that  I  have  been  uniform  in  my 
opposiiion  to  the  doctrine  of  secession,  against  Avhich  I  have  argued  both 
by  writing  and  speaking  for  thirty  years,  as  well  upon  principle  as  policy. 
I  did  all  in  my  power,  with  pen  and  tongue,  to  prevent  this  state  from 
taking  a  step  that  I  thought  I  foresaw,  and  foretold  would  lead  to  her  dis 
memberment,  discomfiture,  and  ruin  ;  but  when  I  found  all  my  efforts  fruit 
less,  and  the  state  resolved  to  secede,  I  then  opened  a  correspondence  with 
tho  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States  (Mr.  Bates),  by  which  I  en 
deavored  to  bring  about  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  question,  urging  with  all 
the  power  and  persuasion  I  could  command  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  rec 
ommend  the  call  of  a  national  convention  for  the  purpose  of  so  amend 
ing  the  Constitution  as  to  give  to  such  states  as  desired  it  leave  to  with 
draw  from  the  Union,  as  the  only  means  left  of  avoiding  all  the  frightful 
consequences  that  have  since  resulted  to  both  parties ;  but  this  last  effort 
gave  satisfaction  to  neither  party ;  each  seemed  confident  of  its  own 
strength  and  power,  and  each  determined  on  a  fight.  This  correspond 
ence  led  to  rather  an  angry  quarrel  with  Mr.  Bates,  and  for  it  I  was  cruelly 
denounced  at  home.  Finding  that  I  was  powerless  to  accomplish  any 
good,  and  feeling  that  I  had  done  my  duty,  and  my  whole  duty,  to  my 
country,  I  determined  to  retire  from  the  field,  and  I  said  to  myself  and 
friends,  I  will  now  stand  aside  and  leave  the  consequences  to  those  who 
have  invoked  the  war  and  to  those  who  will  control  it.  This  correspond 
ence  with  Mr.  Bates,  and  one  other  letter  written  about  the  same  time — 


282  APPENDIX. 

in  April  last — to  a  friend  in  New  York,  all  of  which  is  now  in  the  hands 
of  General  Winder,  and  to  which  I  ask  your  attention,  was  the  last  cor 
respondence  of  any  kind  that  I  have  had  with  any  person  outside  of  the 
Confederate  States. 

Finding  I  could  not  honestly  and  conscientiously  co-operate  with  those 
from  whom  I  so  widely  differed  and  had  so  long  opposed,  I  determined  to 
withdraw  myself  entirely,  not  only  from  the  political  field,  but  at  the  same 
time  to  shut  myself  out  from  all  social  intercourse  while  this  war  lasted, 
except  with  such  as  should  seek  me  under  my  own  roof,  as  the  only  dig 
nified  course  left  for  me  to  pursue.  For  this  purpose  I  removed  to  a  small 
farm  I  had  purchased,  within  less  than  a  mile  of  the  city,  in  the  month  of 
June  last,  and  from  that  time  till  I  was  brought  here,  I  had  been  to  the 
city  but  three  times,  and  on  each  occasion  to  attend  the  funeral  ceremo 
nies  of  some  valued  friend  or  relative ;  and  the  last  of  these  visits  was  in 
the  month  of  October  or  November  last. 

I  have  had  my  own  private  opinions,  it  is  true,  upon  questions  of  pub 
lic  interest,  and  expect  to  retain  them,  and  they  were  just  such  as  I  had 
always  entertained,  but  they  were  my  private  opinions,  which  no  govern 
ment  on  earth,  however  despotic,  claims  the  right  to,  or  can  despoil  its 
citizens  or  subjects.  These  opinions  were  based  upon  the  best  judgment 
I  could  command,  and  were  not  controlled  by  prejudice  or  passion,  by 
selfishness,  ambition,  or  fear  ;  but  they  have  not  been  used  to  the  prejudice 
of  one  government  nor  for  the  benefit  of  the  other,  since  the  •war  com 
menced,  for  I  had  no  reason  to  suppose  that  either  party  desired  farther 
advice  or  assistance  from  me;  consequently  I  have  sought  no  opportunity 
to  impress  my  views  upon  others,  but,  when  asked  for,  they  have  not  been 
withheld  from  those  whom  I  thought  were  entitled  to  know  them,  whether 
secessionists  or  others  ;  but  this  has  always  been  in  the  form  of  private 
letters  or  private  conversations,  and  I  have  held  none  with  more  freedom 
than  with  my  personal  friend,  Howell  Cobb,  at  my  house  last  fall,  who 
then  thought  the  position  I  had  assumed  was  the  only  one  I  could  con 
sistently  or  honorably  occupy.  From  the  beginning  I  have  thought  I  had 
720  right  to  violate  any  of  the  laws  of  the  state  while  I  was  one  of  its  citi 
zens,  and  I  have  been  extremely  cautious  to  do  nothing  that  would  sub 
ject  me  either  to  moral  or  legal  censure. 

Martial  law  was  declared,  it  appears,  on  Saturday,  the  1st  day  of  March, 
to  take  effect  on  the  next  day  (Sunday),  and  it  was  under  these  circum 
stances  that,  just  before  or  about  the  break  of  day  on  Sunday  morning,  I 
was  aroused  from  my  sleep,  arrested  by  an  officer  at  the  head  of  one  hund- 


APPENDIX.  283 

red  armed  men  stationed  in  and  around  my  house,  my  family  and  home 
stead  taken  possession  of  by  them  and  held  in  military  possession  until 
some  time  the  next  day,  and  I  was  hurried  off,  very  much  to  the  distress 
of  my  family,  of  course,  and  lodged  in  a  dirty,  filthy  negro  jail,  where  I 
have  been  ever  since,  subjected  to  close  and  solitary  confinement,  permit 
ted  to  see  the  light  of  the  sun  only  through  the  iron  bars  of  my  prison- 
house,  and  with  an  armed  sentinel  constantly  at  my  door.  My  daughters, 
friends,  and  legal  advisers  have  all  been  refused  permission  to  see  me,  as 
if  I  were  an  already  convicted  felon. 

Shortly  after  I  had  been  lodged  in  jail,  I  sent  to  ask  an  interview  with 
General  Winder,  which  in  the  afternoon  he  granted,  when  I  related  to 
him  pretty  much  what  I  have  said  to  you  in  this  letter.  I  said  to  him  I 
had  no  favors  to  ask  of  the  government,  but  I  had  &  right  to  know  upon 
what  charge  I  had  been  arrested.  He  replied,  You  are  arrested  upon  a 
very  serious  charge — one  perhaps  not  exactly  amounting  to  treason,  but 
grazing  it  very  closely.  And  pray,  sir,  said  I,  what  may  that  be  ?  He 
said  I  was  charged  with  being  at  the  head  of  a  large  organization  in  Rich 
mond,  of  attending  its  nightly  meetings,  the  object  of  which  was  to  break 
down  the  Confederate  government,  and  that  I  was  known  to  be  hostile  to 
the  government.  I  said,  General  Winder,  if  I  am  amenable  to  this  govern 
ment  for  my  private  opinions  upon  political  subjects — if  it  is  an  offense 
against  any  law  to  believe  that  no  state  had  a  right  to  secede  from  the 
Union,  then  I  am  liable  to  the  penalties  of  that  law  ;  if  to  believe  there 
was  no  sufficient  cause  for  the  exercise  of  the  right,  if  such  right  existed, 
then,  too,  have  I  incurred  the  penalties  of  the  law ;  and  if,  conceding  the 
existence  of  both  right  and  cause,  I  still  believed  that  secession  and  revo 
lution  were  not  the  rightful  remedies,  and  that  I  had  never  been  able  to 
see  how  it  was  at  all  likely  to  come  to  a  successful  termination,  then,  too, 
was  I  liable  to  all  the  penalties  the  law  prescribed  ;  for  all  this  I  had  be 
lieved,  said,  and  written,  in  every  variety  of  form,  for  thirty  years  before 
the  war,  and  nothing  had  occurred  to  change  them  since.  He  replied,  This 
government  has  nothing  to  do  with  your  private  opinions  or  your  private 
letters.  Then,  said  I,  General  Winder,  this  government  has  nothing  to  do 
with  me,  and  I  have  no  business  here,  and  am  entitled  to  and  claim  to  be 
restored  to  my  liberty  and  my  family ;  for  as  to  the  charge  of  being  at  the 
head  of  an  organization  of  any  description,  it  is  too  ridiculous  to  need  ref 
utation  ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  I  have  no  knowledge  of  the  existence  of 
such  an  organization,  nor  have  I  any  reason  to  believe  that  such  an  one 
exists ;  except  what  I  have  seen  in  the  newspapers  and  have  heard  as 


284  APPENDIX. 

common  rumor,  I  certainly  do  not  know  of  any  human  being  who  is  a 
member  of  it ;  and  as  for  my  attending  its  meetings,  I  can  only  repeat 
what  I  have  already  said  of  my  visits  to  Eichmond  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  they  were  made ;  and  I  have  not  been  off  of  my  farm  after 
dark  since  I  removed  to  the  country  last  June  (now  nine  months),  except 
to  spend  the  evening,  in  company  with  my  daughters,  occasionally  at  the 
house  of  an  old  friend  and  neighbor  (Captain  Burton)  who  lives  within 
two  or  three  hundred  yards  of  my  gate. 

He  then  asked  me  if  I  knew  a  man  named  Francis  Stearns.  I  told  him 
I  knew  Franklin  Stearns  intimately,  and  had  no  better  friend.  '  Well,  he 
said,  he  is  the  man  that  gave  the  information  that  you  were  at  the  head 
of  this  organization,  and  that  he,  Stearns,  had  given  $300  to  two  men  to 
be  used  in  breaking -up  the  Confederate  government,  and  told  them  that 
there  was  such  an  organization,  and  that  you  were  at  the  head  of  it.  Oh, 
said  I,  General  Winder,  the  whole  story  is  an  infamous  trumped-up  lie 
from  beginning  to  end.  I  know  that  Franklin  Stearns  never  said  any 
such  thing  of  me,  for.  he  is  a  truthful  and  honorable  man,  and  he  not  only 
did  not  know  that  I  did  belong  to  such  an  organization,  but  no  man 
knows  better  than  he  that  I  did  not;  for  he  knows  what  have  been  my 
habits  of  life,  the  determination  upon  which  I  have  acted,  etc.,  and,  know 
ing  that  part  of  the  story  to  be  an  absolute  falsehood,  I  feel  quite  as  confi 
dent  that  the  balance  of  the  story  is  equally  untrue  ;  for  Franklin  Stearns 
is  not  such  a  fool  as  to  do  business  in  that  way,  even  if  he  were  so  disposed, 
and  especially  with  strangers ;  but,  said  I,  Mr.  Stearns  is  a  prisoner  in  this 
house,  and  within  thirty  feet  of  us,  and  as  he  is  the  witness  by  whom  you 
expect  to  establish  your  charge  against  me,  there  can  be  no  reason  for  de 
lay  in  the  investigation,  and  I  am  willing  to  rest  the  case  entirely  on  his 
testimony.  General  Winder  said  he  was  glad  to  hear  it,  and  if  this  were 
so,  there  could  be  no  difficulty  about  it. 

Now,  then,  said  I,  General  Winder,  conceding  the  truth  to  be  as  I  have 
represented,  I  appeal  to  you  as  a  soldier,  a  citizen,  and  a  man,  if  I  am  not 
entitled  to  have  the  charge  against  me  promptly  investigated,  and  if  I  have 
committed  any  wrong,  morally  or  legally,  enforce  the  penalty  of  your  law 
upon  me  with  all  its  rigor ;  and  if  not,  let  me  be  restored  at  once  to  my 
liberty  and  my  family.  He  said  I  certainly  was  entitled  to  a  speedy  in 
vestigation,  and  he  would  put  the  case  in  the  hands  of  the  district  attor 
ney  the  next  day. 

On  the  next  morning  (the  3d)  I  sent  a  note  to  Mr.  Patrick  Henry 
Aylett,  the  district  attorney,  asking  an  interview,  to  which  he  politely 


APPENDIX.  285 

responded,  and  in  the  course  of  the  morning  called;  and  on  representing 
all  that  had  occurred  to  him,  he  said  he  thought,  as  martial  law  had  been 
declared,  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter,  but  if  he  had,  and  the 
papers  were  put  in  his  hands,  he  would  attend  to  it  without  delay.  Three 
weeks  have  elapsed,  and  I  have  heard  nothing  from  General  Winder  or 
Mr.  Aylett ;  but  more  than  ten  days  ago,  one  of  the  detectives  who  aided 
in  my  arrest  told  me  my  papers  had  all  been  examined,  and  they  had 
found  nothing  against  me,  and  he  believed  General  Winder  was  ready  to 
return  them  to  me.  These  are  the  circumstances  connected  with  my  im 
prisonment. 

Hitherto  I  have  not  felt  disposed  to  make  any  appeal  to  the  War  De 
partment,  because  I  had  good  reason  to  believe  I  had  been  made  a  victim 
to  the  petty  and  unmanly  political  malignity  of  a  person  who  holds  a  sub 
ordinate  position  in  your  office,  and  upon  whom  I  have  never  had  the 
good  fortune  to  cast  my  eye,  and  for  the  additional  reason  that  I  had 
formed  the  conception  that  your  predecessor  (Mr.  Benjamin)  recognized 
no  responsibility  for  his  official  acts  to  the  great  body  of  the  people,  and 
especially  those  of  this  state,  to  whom  he  was  unknown,  and  for  whose 
good  or  bad  opinion  he  was  comparatively  indifferent ;  in  other  words, 
the  opinion  I  had  formed  of  him  was  not  of  a  very  exalted  character,  and  I 
did  not  choose  to  correspond  with  him,  while,  from  my  slight  acquaintance 
with  you,  I  have  supposed  you  would  feel  a  lively  responsibility  for  all  your 
official  acts,  and  that  you  can  not  be  used  as  an  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  a  subordinate  for  the  gratification  of  a  vindictive  malice  long  since  ex 
pressed,  and  therefore  I  have  felt  it  to  be  a  duty  that  I  owed  to  myself,  to 
my  family,  to  my  friends,  to  truth,  and  to  a  sacred  regard  for  popular 
freedom,  that  I  should  address  you  in  your  official  character,  laying  all 
the  facts  before  you,  which  I  am  prepared  to  establish  by  the  most  incon 
trovertible  testimony,  that  they  may  be  placed  on  file  in  your  department, 
that  no  one  connected  therewith  may  plead  ignorance  hereafter  if  they 
should  be  held  to  a  just  accountability  for  the  course  pursued  toward 
me. 

And  now,  Mr.  Secretary,  I  ask  if  there  is  any  thing  exhibited  against 
me  to  justify  the  outrage  to  which  I  have  been  subjected,  or  to  excuse  the 
denial  of  a  public  investigation,  which  I  have  demanded,  into  any  charge 
that  has  been  or  can  be  brought  against  me  ?  And  are  you  not  satisfied 
that  if  those  who  instigated  my  arrest  would  have  found  any  charge  upon 
which  they  dared  to  put  me  on  trial  that  would  in  the  slightest  degree 
have  attached  stain  or  suspicion  upon  my  character  or  position,  that  they 


286  APPENDIX. 

would  have  been  in  hot  haste  to  have  done  it,  not  only  to  injure  me,  but 
to  justify  what  they  had  done? 

Sir,  I  have  been  in  St.  Petersburg,  under  the  eye  of  the  Czar ;  I  have 
been  in  Vienna,  subject  to  the  sleepless  vigilance  of  the  Austrian  police ;  I 
have  been  in  Rome,  under  the  government  of  the  Pope  ;  but  under  neither 
of  these,  the  most  despotic  of  all  European  governments,  would  they  have 
dared  thus  to  abuse  my  personal  rights,  with  my  American  passport  in  my 
pocket,  upon  so  flimsy  a  pretext. 

I  incline  to  the  opinion  that,  by  the  systematic  persecution  and  tyranny 
that  has  been  practiced  toward  me,  they  are  building  up  for  me  a  future 
strength  and  popularity  that  I  have  never  before  commanded,  but  which, 
as  I  desire  no  political  preferment,  I  really  do  not  covet,  and  for  the  en 
joyment  of  which  I  would  not  exchange  one  hour  of  that  civil,  religious, 
political,  and  personal  freedom  that  I  inherited  from  my  ancestors,  and 
which  for  sixty  years  I  have  enjoyed  until  now  without  interruption,  and 
I  vainly  hoped  had  been  secured  for  life — a  freedom  won  by  the  toil,  the 
sufferings,  and  the  blood  of  my  forefathers ;  a  freedom  for  which  your 
own  illustrious  grandsire  was  an  able  and  efficient  champion  ;  a  freedom 
thus  inherited  no  power  under  the  sun  has  a  right  to  dispossess  me  of 
except  for  some  violation  of  law ;  and  if  this  neivly -organized  government 
of  yours  claims  such  right,  I  am  bothyree  and  proud  to  say  that  /  abjure 
it  now  and  forever  ;  in  life  and  in  the  struggles  of  death  will  I  abjure  it. 

I  ask,  Mr.  Secretary,  that  you  will  take  such  steps  in  the  premises  as 
your  own  sense  of  duty  and  propriety  may  dictate. 

But  before  I  conclude,  allow  me,  in  justice  to  others,  to  say  that  there 
are  many  other  cases  under  this  roof  involving  as  much  outrage  and 
wrong  as  in  my  own.  There  is  nothing  more  to  be  alleged  against 
Franklin  Stearns  than  there  is  against  me,  and  if  there  is,  he  is  equally 
entitled  to  a  trial.  Here  too  is  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  who,  according 
to  the  representation  of  the  press,  thoroughly  incensed  against  him,  was 
arrested  and  imprisoned  because  he  did  not  open  his  church  on  thanks 
giving-day.  Mr.  Ward  well  too,  Mr.  Halleck,  Mr.  Heckler,  Mr.  Williams, 
Mr.  Higgins,  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Wigand,  and  many  others,  all  men  of  fami 
lies,  of  regular  business  pursuits,  torn  from  their  homes  and  thrown  into 
prison,  without  a  hearing  and  without  the  privilege  of  counsel,  under  this 
detestable,  umvritten,  and  unknown  code  called  "  martial  law." 

Great  God !  can  a  Virginian  gentleman  witness  such  scenes  as  these, 
and  not  have  the  blood  to  curdle  in  his  veins  ?  Can  any  man  born  under 
republican  institutions  know  what  is  transpiring  here,  and  not  shudder  at 


APPENDIX.  287 

the  contemplation  of  what  it  promises  in  the  future  ?  Mr.  Randolph, 
come  down  to  this  jail  and  judge  for  yourself,  if  you  attach  any  value  to 
human  freedom  and  human  rights. 

I  ask  no  clemency  for  myself,  or  for  my  fellow-prisoners  and  fellow-suf 
ferers — I  only  ask  for  all ;  and  as  a  citizen  of  Virginia,  although  incarcer 
ated  nevertheless  as  a  citizen  who  has  forfeited  none  of  his  rights,  I  claim 
that  they  may  all  be  confronted  with  their  accusers,  and  subjected  to  a  fair 
and  impartial  trial  for  the  offenses  with  which  they  severally  stand  charged. 
Many  of  these  gentlemen  are  strangers  to  me,  but  they  are  none  the  less 
entitled  to  my  sympathy,  and  to  such  aid  as  I  may  be  able  to  render  them, 
and  therefore  I  venture  to  express  the  earnest  hope  that  a  regular  inves 
tigation  may  be  instituted,  without  farther  delay,  for  the  punishment  of  the 
guilty  and  for  the  discharge  of  the  innocent. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

P.S. — The  consequences  growing  out  of  this  communication  will  serve 
to  show  whether  or  not  the  Star  Chamber,  the  Inquisition,  and  the  Coun 
cil  of  Three  have  been  really  transferred  from  the  Old  World  into  the 
heart  and  capital  of  Virginia.  J.  M.  B. 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Randolph  replied,  promising  that  a  court  of  inquiry 
should  be  convened  at  an  early  day ;  and,  after  more  than  three  weeks' 
farther  confinement,  the  court  was  appointed,  consisting  of  one  Colonel 
Tausel,  the  president  of  the  court,  who  had  openly  declared  before  his 
appointment  that  I  was  not  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  an  examination,  but 
ought  to  be  hung  on  the  public  square  or  to  a  lamp-post,  Colonel  Porter, 
who  was  a  respectable  gentleman,  and  an  ignorant  creature  by  the  name 
of  Brunell  as  judge  advocate  or  recorder,  who  was  incapable  of  making 
up  his  own  record ;  and  before  this  august  tribunal  I  was  summoned  to 
appear.  I  declined  the  aid  of  counsel,  and  conducted  this  farce  of  a  trial 
myself.  After  an  investigation  of  some  ten  days,  the  record  of  which  I 
would  publish  herewith  but  for  its  length  and  stupidity,  this  military  tri 
bunal  submitted  to  the  War  Department  the  result  of  its  conclusions,  and 
thereupon  the  following  orders  were  issued: 

General  Orders,  No.  28. 

War  Department,  Adj.  and  Insp.  Gen.'s  Office,  Richmond,  April  25, 1862. 
A  Court  of  Inquiry  having  assembled  at  Richmond  pursuant  to  Special 
Orders,  No.  81,  April  9,  1862,  from  the  adjutant  and  inspector  general's 
office,  to  examine  ' '  into  the  causes  of  the  arrest  of  John  Minor  Botts,  and 


A 


OF  THf 
UWIVFDQ/-TV 


288  APPENDIX. 

to  report  the  facts  in  reference  thereto,  and  whether,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Court,  it  is  compatible  with  the  public  safety  to  discharge"  the  said  John 
Minor  Botts ;  and  the  Court  having  made  such  examination  and  report 
ed  the  result,  with  the  evidence  taken  in  the  case,  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
the  following  are  his  decision  and  orders  thereupon : 

"The  Secretary  of  War,  having  considered  the  record  of  the  examina 
tion  in  the  case  of  John  Minor  Botts,  and  the  report  of  Brigadier  General 
J.  II.  Winder  as  to  the  practicability  of  confining  him  to  his  house  and 
premises  in  the  manner  recommended  by  the  Court  of  Inquiry,  directs 
that  he  be  discharged  from  confinement  on  his  delivering  to  General 
Winder  a  written  parole  of  honor  to  the  following  effect : 

"That,  until  otherwise  permitted  by  the  Department,  he  will  sojourn 
in  Lynchburg,  Danville,  or  Raleigh,  or  in  such  other  place  in  the  interior 
as  may  be  selected  by  himself,  with  the  consent  of  the  Department;  that 
he  will  proceed  without  unnecessary  delay  to  the  place  of  his  sojourn;  that 
he  will  not  depart  therefrom,  or  go  more  than  five  miles  from  his  residence ; 
and  that,  while  on  parole,  he  will  do  nothing  to  the  injury  of  the  Confeder 
ate  government,  nor  express  any  opinion  tending  to  impair  the  confidence 
of  the  people  in  the  capacity  of  the  Confederate  States  to  achieve  their  in 
dependence. 

"  Mr.  Botts's  family  will  receive  passports  to  join  him,  if  desired." 
By  command  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 

S.  COOPER,  Adj.  and  Insp.  Gen. 

While  I  was  imprisoned,  Captain  Alexander,  who  was  then  the  jailer, 
came  into  my  room  and  commenced  a  conversation  by  saying,  It  is  a 
great  shame  that  a  man  like  you  should  be  confined  in  such  a  hole  as 
this;  this  is  no  place  for  a  man  of  your  character,  talents,  and  standing 
before  the  world.  To  which  I  replied,  Well,  sir,  I  am  very  much  in 
clined  to  concur  with  you  in  that  opinion.  Why,  then,  am  I  kept  here  ? 
He  said,  There  is  no  reason  why  you  should  be,  and,  if  you  will  be 
reasonable,  you  need  not  be.  What  do  you  mean  by  being  reasona 
ble  ?  I  asked.  Why,  if  you  will  only  say  you  will  accept  it,  I  will  bring 
you  a  commission  of  brigadier  general  in  the  Confederate  Army  in  half 
an  hour,  and  by  to-morrow  morning  at  this  time  you  shall  be  placed  at 
the  head  of  ten  thousand  men. 

I  looked  him  sternly  in  the  face  and  said,  Do  you  know  the  nature 
of  the  proposition  you  make  to  me,  and  to  whom  you  make  it  ?  He  said 
he  did.  If,  then,  I  were  placed  in  command  of  ten  thousand  men  to- 


APPENDIX.  289 

morrow,  do  you  know  what  would  be  the  first  thing  I  would  do?  He 
said,  No  ;  what  would  you  do  ?  I  said,  with  much  vehemence  of  man 
ner,  Before  the  sun  went  down,  I  would  hang  every  scoundrel  of  you 
from  Jeff.  Davis  down  to  you.  He  laughed,  and  said,  If  you  would  ac 
cept  the  commission,  you  would  think  better  of  that.  I  then  said,  By 
what  authority  do  you  tender  me  this  commission?  He  replied,  No 
matter  about  that.  If  you  will  accept  it,  I'll  pledge  myself  to  bring  it  to 
you  in  half  an  hour.  A  moment's  reflection  satisfied  me  that  I  had  been 
imprudent  in  rejecting  the  proposition  in  the  manner  I  had,  and  I  said, 
I  am  not  in  the  vein  to-day,  and  the  conversation  turned  on  other  subjects. 

On  his  leaving  the  room  I  committed  the  conversation  to  paper,  and 
conveyed  it  by  our  "under-ground railroad,"  as  we  called  it,  to  the  room 
below,  occupied  by  Mr.  Stearns,  telling  him  if  the  subject  was  broached 
again,  I  should  endeavor,  without  committing  myself,  to  manage  to  get 
the  commission  placed  in  my  hands. 

A  few  days  after,  Captain  Alexander  again  came  to  my  room,  and 
again  tendered  the  commission.  I  asked  him  who  sent  him  to  me  with 
this  offer.  He  said,  Never  mind ;  will  you  accept  it  ?  I  said,  You  can 
not  expect  me  to  accept  your  proposition  without  knowing  it  will  be  car 
ried  out.  Go  and  bring  me  the  commission,  and  then  I  will  give  you 
an  answer.  He  replied,  You  can  not  expect  me  to  bring  you  the  com 
mission  without  knowing  it  will  be  accepted.  Say  you  will  accept  it,  and 
I  will  swear  to  you  to  bring  the  commission  in  half  an  hour.  I  said, 
No,  you  can  not  catch  me  in  that  way ;  bring  the  commission  first,  and 
you  shall  have  a  prompt  and  final  answer.  He  left  me,  saying,  when 
ever  I  chose  to  take  it,  and  could  let  him  know,  it  was  at  my  command. 

But  a  few  days  had  elapsed,  when  I  was  lying  on  my  bed  reading,  about 
eight  o'clock  at  night,  when  the  captain  came  in  and  took  a  seat  on  the 
bedside,  and  said,  You  do  not  know  how  much  it  concerns  me  to  see  a 
man  like  you  occupying  this  position.  Why  will  you  not  accept  that 
commission  ?  and  by  ten  o'clock  you  can  be  at  home  under  your  own  roof 
with  your  family.  I  said,  You  have  not  yet  brought  me  the  commission  ; 
and  I  told  you  I  would  not  give  you  an  answer  until  I  had  seen  the 
commission  itself.  Why  do  you  not  bring  it  to  me  ?  He  replied,  Only 
pledge  yourself  to  accept  it,  and  it  shall  be  in  your  hands  in  half  an  hour. 
In  that  case,  I  said,  you  must  have  it  with  you  or  in  your  possession, 
otherwise  it  could  not  be  obtained  to-night.  Never  mind  about  that, 
said  he,  I  will  swear  to  do  what  I  tell  you  if  you  say  you  will  accept  it. 
But  he  would  not  commit  any  body  else  unless  I  would  first  agree  to  ac- 

N 


290  APPENDIX. 

cept.     All  of  this  was  regularly  communicated,  as  was  the  first  conver 
sation,  to  my  friend  Stearns  as  it  occurred. 

On  the  28th  of  April  I  received  the  following  note  from  General  Win 
der: 

u  Head-quarter?,  Department  Ilenrico,  Richmond,  April  28, 1S62. 
"JOHN  Mis  OK  BOTTS,  Esq: 

"  SIR, — With  this  letter  will  be  presented  a  parole  for  your  signature. 
When  signed  by  you  you  will  be  released ;  and  I  am  instructed  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  say  that  on  Wednesday  next,  before  twelve  o'clock, 
it  is  expected  that  you  will  inform  me  what  locality  you  have  selected, 
and  when  you  will  be  ready  to  take  your  departure. 

"  Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"JoiiN  H.  WINDER,  Brigadier  General." 

"  Richmond,  Virginia,  April  2S,  1862. 

"I,  John  Minor  Botts,  do  hereby  accept  the  conditions  proposed  in 
General  Orders,  No.  26,  April  22,  1862,  from  the  adjutant  and  inspector 
general's  office  ;  and  do  pledge  my  sacred  word  and  honor,  until  otherwise 
permitted  by  the  Department,  to  sojourn  in  Lynchburg,  Danville,  or  Ra 
leigh,  or  in  such  other  place  in  the  interior  as  may  be  selected  by  myself 
with  the  consent  of  the  Department ;  that  I  will  proceed  without  unneces 
sary  delay  to  the  place  of  my  sojourn ;  that  I  will  not  depart  therefrom,  or 
go  more  than  five  miles  from  my  residence ;  and  that  while  on  parole  I  will 
do  nothing  to  the  injury  of  the  Confederate  government,  nor  express  my 
opinion  tending  to  impair  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  the  capacity  of 
the  Confederate  States  to  achieve  their  independence. 

"JOHN  M.  BOTTS." 

The  above  parole  I  accepted  and  signed,  and,  instead  of  appearing  at 
the  office  of  General  Winder  at  or  before  twelve  o'clock,  I  asked  for  an  in 
terview  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  which  was  appointed  for  eight  o'clock 
on  the  next  morning.  After  a  somewhat  protracted  conversation  and 
strong  remonstrance  against  the  injustice  of  sending  me  from  home,  which 
proved  unavailing,  I  announced  my  readiness  to  comply  with  the  terms  of 
my  parole,  but  expressed  a  preference  for  some  retired  place  in  the  coun 
try  rather  than  for  a  city  residence,  where  I  should  be  an  object  of  curios 
ity  and  remark  whenever  I  put  my  head  out  of  the  door,  and  asked  that 
the  following  protest,  which  I  read  to  the  Secretary,  should  be  made  a 
part  of  the  record. 


APPENDIX.  291 


MR.  BOTTS'S    OFFICIAL  PEOTEST. 

McDaniels's  Negro  Jail,  April  24, 1862. 
Hon.  GEORGE  W.  RANDOLPH,  Secretary  of  War : 

SIR, — The  undersigned  asks  leave  to  file  the  following  protest  against 
the  reasoning  of  the  Court  of  Inquiry  which  sat  in  his  case,  as  also  the  de 
cision  of  the  Department  thereupon,  and  that  it  may  be  made  a  part  of 
the  record. 

1.  Upon  the  allegation  that  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  neutrality  in 
a  war  like  this  now  in  progress,  the  undersigned  concedes,  as  a  general 
principle,  in  time  of  war  between  foreign  states,  that  no  individual  owing 
military  service  can  be  permitted  to  occupy  a  position  of  neutrality,  for 
every  one  indisposed  to  take  up  arms  might  avail  themselves  of  that  plea, 
and  thus  deprive  the  state  of  the  means  of  carrying  on  the  war ;  but  he 
submits  that  this  is  not  so  in  the  case  of  a  rebellion,  where  no  such 
military  service  can  of  right  be  demanded,  and  especially  of  a  party 
who  is  exempt  by  law,  as  is  the  case  of  the  undersigned  on  account  of 
age,  being  now  upon  the  border  of  sixty  years. 

2.  He  protests  that  the  neutrality  he  exercised  was  in  no  violation  of 
any  law,  state  or  Confederate,  which  subjected  him  to  the  injuries,  wrongs, 
and  injustice  that  have  been  dealt  out  to  him  with  an  unsparing  hand. 

3.  He  protests  against  the  causes  of  his  arrest  and  imprisonment,  with 
the  finding  of  the  Court,  and  the  approval  of  the  Department,  as  being 
wholly  inconsistent  and  contradictory  in  this — that  he  was  arrested  and 
confined  as  alleged  upon  the  suspicion  of  having  taken  part  in  the  war, 
whereas  he  is  detained  in  confinement  for  the  reason  that  he  had  not  taken 
part  in  the  war ;  and,  finally,  he  is  subjected  to  a  punishment  which  im 
poses  upon  him  as  an  absolute  necessity  the  very  neutrality  for  which  he 
is  confined  and  punished. 

4.  He  protests  that  among  the  thousands  in  this  state,  and  hundreds  in 
this  city,  who  have  taken  no  more  part  in  this  war  than  the  undersigned, 
that  he  alone  should  be  selected  as  an  object  worthy  of  the  attention  and 
power  of  the  Confederate  government.     It  may  be  a  compliment,  but  one 
in  which  he  takes  neither  pride  nor  satisfaction. 

5.  He  protests  that  this  government  has  no  right  to  require  him  to  do 
any  thing  that,  according  to  his  life-long  opinions,  a  thousand  times  ex 
pressed  in  the  last  thirty  years,  founded  upon  the  best  convictions  of  his 
judgment,  would  involve  him  in  the  crime  of  treason,  and  the  forfeiture 
of  his  life  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  if  ever  and  whenever 


292  APPENDIX. 

they  should  re-establish  their  authority  in  Virginia,  three  fourths  of  which 
is  now  in  their  possession. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted.  JOHN  M.  BOTTS.. 

Upon  the  reading  of  this  protest,  the  Secretary  agreed  that  I  might  stay 
at  home,  if  I  would  confine  myself  to  my  own  house  and  behave  myself 
like  a  good  boy,  and  make  no  effort  to  impress  upon  the  public  mind  that 
the  Confederacy  was  incapable  of  establishing  its  independence  ;  to  which 
I  replied, "  I  had  no  disposition  to  do  so,  for,  if  I  was  not  greatly  mistaken, 
they  would  not  be  long  in  finding  that  out  for  themselves."  I  then  ex 
pected  "Little  Mac"  in  Richmond  before  the  end  of  the  week,  knowing 
he  could  come  in  any  day  that  he  thought  proper  to  make  the  eifort,  as  the 
authorities  were  then  prepared  for  an  evacuation  rather  than  meet  his 
greatly  superior  force,  which  they  were  by  no  means  prepared  to  encounter 
— M'Clellan's  force  at  that  time  being  certainly  not  less  than  from  eighty 
to  a  hundred  thousand,  and  Johnson's  not  exceeding  forty-five  thousand, 
and  his  intrenchments  at  that  time  far  less  formidable  than  they  were 
subsequently  made.  So  well  satisfied  did  every  body  seem  to  be  that 
M'Clellan  must  come  to  Richmond  that  every  preparation  was  made  for 
the  evacuation  of  the  city.  Every  valuable  document  and  paper  of  the 
government  was  removed  to  Columbia,  South  Carolina ;  the  banks  were 
all  closed,  their  books,  specie,  etc.,  sent  off;  the  printing-presses  were  all 
likewise  sent  away ;  the  yellow  flag  was  hoisted  over  all  the  hospitals  in 
the  city ;  tar,  pitch,  turpentine,  and  other  combustible  materials  were  col 
lected  around  the  tobacco  warehouses ;  the  locomotives  kept  for  several 
weeks  in  readiness  for  the  immediate  departure  of  the  government  officials ; 
when,  finding  "Little  Mac"  would  listen  neither  to  the  persuasion  nor 
peremptory  orders  of  his  superiors  (see  his  Report),  their  alarm  abated, 
and  on  the  17th  of  April  they  passed  the  first  conscript  act,  under  which 
the  young  conscripts  poured  into  Virginia  from  all  parts  of  the  Confeder 
acy  by  thousands,  tens  of  thousands,  and  fifties  of  thousands,  until  the 
command  of  General  Lee  (who  had  succeeded  General  Johnson  after  he 
was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  the  "Seven  Pines")  was  variously  estimated 
by  their  own  presses  at  from  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  to  two  hundred 
and  eight  thousand  men  (though  I  suppose  this  was  rather  exaggerated), 
when,  taking  advantage  of  a  midnight  march  on  the  night  of  the  25th  of 
June,  Lee  hurried  off  some  thirty  or  forty  thousand  men  from  his  right 
wing,  that  confronted  the  main  body  of  M'Clellan's  left  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Chickahominy,  marched  them  up  to  Mechanicsville  Turnpike, 


APPENDIX.  293 

which  they  reached  about  daybreak,  and  threw  them  with  great  and  sud 
den  impetuosity  upon  M'Clellan's  left  and  weakest  point,  and  by  over 
whelming  superiority  of  numbers  drove  him  for  seven  days,  from  point  to 
point,  down  the  Chickahominy,  until  he  reached  and  made  a  stand  at 
Malvern  Hills,  where  the  tables  were  most  effectually  turned,  and  the 
most  decisive  of  all  the  battles  during  the  seven  days'  fight  was  made,  in 
all  of  which  the  Confederate  losses  were  immense,  and  far  greater  than 
those  on  the  Federal  side ;  but  all  the  prestige  of  victory  inured  to  the 
Southern  cause  by  forcing  a  retreat  of  the  Federal  army,  and  the  occupa 
tion  of  the  various  positions  they,  had  held. 

The  day  after  the  battle  of  "Malvern  Hill"  M'Clellan  could  have 
marched  into  Richmond  without  serious  impediment,  for  the  Southern 
army,  worn  out  with  fatigue  and  discouraged  by  this  last  unexpected  dis 
aster,  was  in  a  state  of  extreme  disorganization  ;  but  instead  of  pushing 
his  way  then  into  Richmond,  the  extraordinary  spectacle  was  presented 
of  both  armies  in  full  retreat,  one  from  defeat,  and  the  other  from  one  of 
the  most  decisive,  and,  if  taken  advantage  of,  might  have  been  thre  most 
important  victories  of  the  war.  Nothing  occurred  during  the  whole  war  so 
much  to  give  new  life,  spirit,  energy,  and  courage  to  the  Confederate 
army  and  people  as  this  untoward  retreat  of  M'Clellan  from  the  Penin 
sula,  and  they  at  once  conceived  the  idea  of  marching  upon  the  capital  at 
Washington,  which  movement  was  deserted,  and  resulted  in  a  move 
ment  on  Maryland,  and  the  battle  of  Antietam. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  at  the  close  of  the  interview  heretofore  referred 
to,  handed  me  the  following  order  : 

"  Richmond,  April  29, 1SG2. 

"Mr.  John  Minor  Botts  is  permitted  to  remain  at  his  own  house  on 
parole  until  notified  by  the  War  Department  that  he  must  withdraw  in 
compliance  with  the  order  already  given. 

' '  (Signed)  GEORGE  W.  RANDOLPH,  Secretary  of  War. ' ' 

Under  tHs  order  I  was  confined  to  my  own  premises  for  the  next  four 
months,  when  one  of  my  friends,  a  Confederate  officer,  remonstrated  with 
the  Secretary  against  this  continued  imprisonment,  and  he  was  author 
ized  to  say  to  me  that,  continuing  under  my  parole,  I  need  no  longer  con 
sider  myself  circumscribed  in  my  walks. 

My  situation  was  most  unpleasant  and  painful.  I  was  looked  upon  by 
the  government  and  general  community  with  suspicion  and  distrust,  while 
I  looked  upon  them  with  any  thing  but  confidence  or  respect.  They  hat- 


294  APPENDIX. 

ed  me,  I  despised  them,  as  a  political  body.  They  regarded  me  as  treach 
erous  to  the  South,  I  held  them  as  madmen,  false  to  the  nation,  false  to 
the  Constitution,  false  to  their  obligations  of  duty,  and  especially  false  and 
faithless  (in/act,  whatever  might  have  been  their  purpose)  to  every  inter 
est  most  cherished  by  the  Southern  people ;  and  whether  they  did  me  or 
I  did  them  the  greater  injustice,  a  more  unprejudiced  judgment  may  now 
be  formed  than  then. 

Under  these  circumstances  I  applied  for  permission  to  leave  the  state, 
which  was  refused. 

MR.  BOTTS    MOVES    TO    CULPEPPER. 

After  this,  I  obtained  a  pass  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  visit  the 
county  of  Culpepper  to  purchase  the  farm  on  which  I  am  now  residing, 
which  I  was  urged  to  by  the  then  owner  to  come  up  and  examine.  I 
purchased  in  the  fall  of  1862,  and  moved  to  the  county  on  the  8th  of  Janu 
ary,  1863 ;  but  I  had  hardly  gotten  comfortably  warm  in  the  house  before 
GencralJ.  E.  B.  Stuart  came  in  with  his  whole  cavalry  force,  took  possession 
of  every  part  of  my  premises  (of  2200  acres),  except  my  house,  yard,  and 
garden,  turned  his  horses  loose  to  graze  in  every  field,  to  the  exclusion  of 
my  own  stock,  which  was  left  at  the  mercy  of  his  highly-incensed  com 
mand,  without  any  effort  or  desire  on  his  part  to  restrain  them.  They 
killed  my  hogs,  drove  oif  portions  of  my  cattle  with  their  own  whenever 
they  moved,  and  stole  from  me  $50,000  worth  of  horses,  at  Confederate 
prices,  and  in  Confederate  money.  Daily  and  hourly  I  was  subjected  to 
all  sorts  of  vexatious  annoyances.  I  had  neither  peace  nor  rest,  day  nor 
night,  from  the  time  this  cavalry  force  came  upon  me  until  the  arrival  of 
the  Federal  army  under  General  Meade  in  the  month  of  September,  ex 
cept  during  the  battles  of  Chancellorsville  and  Gettysburg,  from  both  of 
which  they  came  immediately  back  to  take  care  of  me. 

General  Meade  moved  into  Culpepper  on  the  12th  of  September,  1863, 
and  General  Stuart  moved  back  at  double-quick  across  the  Rapidan. 

On  the  12th  of  October,  just  one  month  after,  General  Lee  took  a  cir 
cuitous  route  from  the  south  side  of  the  Rapidan,  and  endeavored  to  throw 
himself  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  old  battle-ground  of  Man- 
assas  between  Meade  and  Washington,  and  thus  cut  off  his  supplies, 
which  was  frustrated  by  a  rapid  movement  of  the  Federal  army  by  rail 
road  in  the  direction  of  Washington.  General  Lee  was  not  only  disap 
pointed  in  his  contemplated  advantage,  but  being  severely  handled  at 
Bristoe,  fell  back  to  the  south  side  of  the  Rappahannock,  tearing  up  the 


APPENDIX.  295 

rails  from  Bristoe  to  the  Rappahannock,  and  quartered  his  whole  army 
around  Brandy  Station,  whei-e  he  remained  until  General  Meade  could 
relay  the  road,  which  he  completed  about  the  5th,  and  on  the  7th  of  No 
vember  he  recrossed  the  llappahannock,  killing  quite  a  number,  and  cap 
turing  many  prisoners,  both  at  llappahannock  Bridge  and  at  Kelly's 
Ford,  some  few  miles  below ;  and  taking  Lee  entirely  by  surprise,  he  com 
menced  a  rapid  and  confused  retreat  at  twelve  o'clock  at  night. 

The  rout  of  the  Federal  army  at  the  first  battle  of  Manassas  could  not 
have  occasioned  a  much  greater  panic  or  greater  state  of  confusion  than 
this  sudden  and  unexpected  midnight  retreat.  Lee's  head-quarters  were 
within  two  miles  of  the  Rappahannock  bridge,  where  Meade  was  crossing, 
and  when  the  news  came  that  "  the  Philistines  be  upon  you,"  and  the 
orders  were  issued  for  an  instantaneous  retreat,  the  wildest  terror  was 
spread  over  the  various  camps  extending  over  the  country ;  and  from 
the  time  the  retreat  commenced,  cavalry,  infantry,  artillery,  baggage- 
wagons,  ordnance  stores,  commissaries,  cattle,  and  all,  in  one  general  con 
fused  mass,  were  pushing  across  the  fields  and  through  the  woods,  all 
striking  for  the  one  and  only  great  road  through  Culpepper  Court-house, 
on  their  way  to  the  south  side  of  the  Rapidan  ;  and  if  General  Meade  had 
known  the  actual  condition,  and  instead  of  halting  at  Brandy  had  kept 
up  a  vigorous  pursuit,  he  must  have  captured  or  destroyed  Lee's  whole 
army  befoi-e  they  reached  the  Rapidan. 

Having  safely  reached  the  right  bank  of  the  Rapidan,  Lee  went  into 
winter-quarters  in  one  of  the  strongest  positions  that  could  be  found  in 
Eastern  Virginia,  and  Meade  took  up  his  winter-quarters  around  and 
about  Brandy ;  and  in  this  position,  with  the  exception  of  the  Mine  Run 
affair,  which  occupied  about  a  week,  both  armies  rested  until  the  3d  of 
May,  1864,  when  General  Grant  had  assumed  the  immediate  command 
of  the  army,  and  moved  off  on  his  brilliant  and  successful  campaign 
against  Richmond,  an  account  of  which  I  leave  to  others  more  conversant 
with  the  minute  particulars.  In  reference  to  the  incidents  of  the  war,  I 
propose  to  give  such  only  as  came  under  my  own  personal  observation  or 
knowledge,  and  are  not  likely  to  be  given  by  others. 

When  General  Meade  fell  back  from  Culpepper  on  the  12th  of  October 
to  prevent  the  flank  movement  of  General  Lee,  by  which  his  communi 
cation  with  Washington  and  his  base  of  supplies  would  have  been  cut  off, 
Stuart,  with  his  whole  cavalry  force,  came  in  to  follow  up  and  harass 
Meade's  rear,  and  he  followed  them  to  the  Rappahannock,  skirmishing  as 
they  went.  Immediately  before  my  door  they  had  a  very  brisk  little 


296  APPENDIX. 

fight  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  which  left  five-and-twenty  killed  and 
wounded  men  of  both  sides  almost  within  a  stone's  throw  of  my  house, 
all  of  whom  I  had  brought  in — the  dead  to  be  buried  and  the  wounded 
to  be  nursed ;  and  while  I  was  engaged  in  this  work  of  mercy  General 
Stuart's  command  returned  from  the  Rappahannock  just  after  night-fall, 
when  the  work  of  destruction  began,  which  continued  through  the  night, 
and  until  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  the  next  morning.  When  I  reached  my 
house  with  the  last  load  of  wounded  men,  I  found  the  inclosure  to  my 
yard,  garden,  and  corn-field  all  torn  down,  camp-fires  burning  in  each, 
near  enough,  with  a  good  wind,  to  endanger  my  buildings,  four  or  five 
hundred  horses  turned  loose  into  my  orchard  and  corn-field,  fence-rails 
blazing  in  every  direction,  and  the  men  in  a  state  of  frenzied  excitement ; 
and  if  my  family  and  myself  escaped  personal  violence,  I  was  more  in 
debted  for  it  to  Providence  than  I  was  to  General  Stuart,  who  passed  im 
mediately  by  on  his  way  to  his  quarters  a  mile  off,  and  witnessed  this  gen 
eral  havoc,  or  to  Captain  Randolph,  who  was  in  immediate  command  of 
the  regiment  occupying  my  yard,  garden,  etc. ;  except  that  none  of  my 
household  were  tomahawked  or  scalped,  the  scene  reminded  me  more  of 
what  I  had  read  of  in  Indian  or  savage  warfare  than  any  thing  that  had 
occurred  among  a  Christian  and  civilized  people.  What  corn  they  could 
not  feed  away  to  three  or  four  thousand  horses  that  night  and  next 
morning  or  carry  away  with  them,  they  piled  up  with  the  rails  and 
burned  in  the  field ;  and  if  they  left  me  one  ear  of  corn  on  the  farm,  I 
have  never  seen  it.  With  the  whole  premises  closely  grazed  (consequently 
with  no  hay),  the  situation  in  which  I  was  left  may  be  understood  when  I 
say  that  two  of  my  best  work-horses  died  before  my  eyes  from  actual 
starvation;  and  this  was  the  situation  in  which  General  Meade's  arrival 
found  me,  and  from  him  and  General  Ingalls  I  obtained  permission  to 
supply  myself  with  provisions  for  man  and  beast,  otherwise  my  stock 
would  all  have  perished. 

All  this  may  appear  to  be  personal  matter,  in  which  the  public  have 
little  interest,  and  for  which  they  have  less  care  ;  but  I  mention  it  for  a 
purpose,  and  that  is,  when  people  who  brought  all  their  troubles  on  them 
selves  shall  hereafter  prate  about  the  vandalism  of  the  Union  armies, 
they  may  take  this  as  an  offset.  Of  all  these  facts  I  made  a  minute 
written  report  to  General  Lee.  He  replied  civilly,  and  sent  one  of  his 
staff-officers  to  see  me,  but  if  he  took  any  official  action  upon  it,  I  have 
not  heard  of  it.  The  open  account  left  standing  between  General  Stuart, 
Captain  Randolph,  and  myself  was  all  settled  by  the  early  death  of  each 
in  the  spring  of  1865  near  Richmond. 


APPENDIX.  297 

The  morning  after  these  outrages  were  committed  upon  my  premises, 
General  Stuart  and  staff  passed  by  immediately  along  the  line  of  depre 
dation,  and  within  thirty  or  forty  yards  of  where  I  stood,  and,  if  he  did 
not  exult  over  the  destruction  that  fell  under  his  eye,  he  certainly  had  no 
word  of  censure  or  reproof  for  his  men.  About  two  hours  after  he  pass 
ed,  I  was  arrested  by  his  provost  marshal  and  carried  to  Culpepper  Court 
house  ;  all  of  which  will  be  explained  by  the  following  letter,  which  I  ad 
dressed  to  the  Richmond  Examiner  at  the  time,  but  which  they  declined 
to  publish  ;  and  my  friends  in  Richmond  would  not  press  it,  from  an  ap 
prehension  of  the  consequences  that  might  result  to  me,  an  apprehension 
in  which  I  have  never  participated. 

MR.  BOTTS'S  LETTER  TO  THE   RICHMOND  EXAMINER   IN    1863. 

The  following  letter  was  written  and  sent  to  the  Richmond  Examiner 
in  November,  1863,  but,  greatly  to  my  regret,  it  was  not  published. 
When  the  Federal  army  occupied  Brandy  in  1864,  a  reporter  of  the  New 
York  Herald,  hearing  of  the  fact,  solicited  a  copy  for  that  paper,  in  which 
it  appeared.  The  copy  below  is  from  the  Richmond  Republic  of  June  28, 
1865. 

u  Head-quarters  Army  of  the  Potomac,  near  Brandy  Station, ) 
Saturday,  November  21, 1863.  / 

"Hon.  JOUN  MINOR  BOTTS  : 

"SiR, — I  have  been  informed  that,  previous  to  the  recrossing  of  the 
Rappahannock  by  General  Meade,  you  had  prepared  a  letter  for  publica 
tion  in  the  Richmond  press ;  and  knowing  that  any  thing  from  your  pen, 
particularly  at  this  time,  has  a  deep  interest  for  the  country,  I  would  re 
spectfully  solicit  a  copy  of  the  letter,  on  behalf  of  the  Associated  Press, 
for  publication.  Respectfully, 

"T.BARNARD,  Correspondent  Associated  Press." 

"  Auburn,  Culpepper  County,  Va.,  November  21, 1S63. 

"DEAR  SIR, — Your  note  of  to-day  has  been  received.  You  have  not 
been  misinformed  as  to  my  having  written  a  letter  for  publication  in  one 
of  the  Richmond  papers  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  Union  army  in  this 
vicinity,  which  I  have  reason  to  suppose  has  before  this  reached  the  pub 
lic  eye  through  the  channel  for  which  it  was  intended.  I  therefore  in 
close  you  a  copy  of  the  letter  for  the  purpose  indicated  in  your  note. 
"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  ' '  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

"  T.  BAENAEI),  Esq. ,  Correspondent  Associated  Press." 


298  APPENDIX. 

"Auburn,  Culpepper  County,  October  IS,  1SG3. 
"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Examiner  : 

"Sin, — Yours  is  the  only  paper  published  in  Richmond  to  which  I 
could  make  an  application  with  any  likelihood  of  success,  in  order  to  set 
myself  right  before  the  public,  and  you  will  pardon  me  for  saying  that  I 
am  by  no  means  confident  of  obtaining  such  a  privilege  at  your  hands ; 
but  I  think  I  have  a  right  to  expect  it,  inasmuch  as  you  have  chosen  to 
publish  an  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  a  correspondent  for,  and  pub 
lished  in,  the  New  York  Herald,  accompanied  with  some  uncalled-for  and 
ill-natured  comments  of  your  own.  But  I  do  not  ask  you  to  publish  it  for 
me  without  making  a  suitable  charge,  which  I  am  more  than  willing  to 
pay.  I  hope,  therefore,  you  will  allow  me  to  say  that,  while  I  have  long 
since  forborne  to  make  corrections  of  any  misrepresentations  of  me  by  the 
public  press,  yet  there  are  some  of  such  a  nature,  and  calculated  to  beget 
so  much  prejudice  in  the  public  mind,  that  I  do  not  feel  I  would  be  act 
ing  wisely  or  properly  to  let  them  pass  unnoticed. 

"I  am  willing  at  all  times  to  be  held  to  a  proper  responsibility  for  any 
thing  I  may  say  or  do,  but  I  am  not  willing  to  be  so  held  for  what  oth 
ers,  who  may  draw  upon  their  fancies  for  their  facts,  may  choose  to  say 
for  me  or  of  me.  I  have  seen  several  statements  in  the  Richmond  papers 
lately,  copied  from  Northern  papers,  calculated  to  excite  popular  feeling 
against  me,  which  had  no  foundation  in  fact. 

"  1st.  That  I  had  been  accosted  by  some  Indiana  major,  then  engaged 
in  a  skirmish  with  some  of  the  rebel  cavalry,  and,  on  being  asked  which 
way  they  had  gone  (which,  by  the  way,  if  he  was  skirmishing  with  them, 
he  ought  to  have  known  for  himself  without  asking  me),  I  replied,  '  I  was 
not  at  liberty  to  tell  him,  as  I  was  on  my  parole,'  and  then  very  gratuitous 
ly  added  that  '  I  was  a  Union  man  without  any  ifs  or  buts.'  Now,  what 
ever  my  opinions  and  position  on  this  subject  may  be,  it  is  not  true  that  I 
have  had  any  such  interview.  I  have  seen  no  such  major,  and  had  no 
such  question  put  to  me,  and  have  given  no  such  answer. 

"2d.  In  the  letter,  a  portion  of  which  you  have  copied,  I  am  represented 
by  the  writer  as  having  said,  '  I  wish  the  Federal  generals  knew  half  that 
I  know  of  the  rebels,  and  their  resources  and  intentions.'  I  have  only  to 
say  that  I  said  no  such  thing,  and  nothing  that  would  bear  a  resemblance 
to  it ;  and  when  I  read  the  Herald  containing  it,  I  mentioned  the  error  to 
other  correspondents  of  that  paper  and  asked  them  to  have  it  corrected, 
which  they  promised  should  be  done.  I  see  nothing  in  it,  if  I  had  said  it, 
to  be  complained  of  by  other  parties,  as  it  matters  not  what  I  knew  of  their 


APPENDIX.  299 

% 

intentions  and  resources,  provided  I  did  not  disclose  them  to  others. 
I  complained  of  it,  because  it  made  me  appear  in  the  ridiculous  attitude  of 
pretending  to  know  what  every  man  of  intelligence  and  reflection  was 
obliged  to  know,  was  preposterous  in  the  extreme.  For  all  know  that  I 
am  not  in  the  confidence  of  the  government  or  the  commander  of  its 
forces,  and  therefore  could  know  nothing  of  their  intentions ;  and  as  to 
their  resources  I  profess  to  be  profoundly  ignorant,  either  as  to  what  they 
are  or  where  they  are.  What  he  says  about  my  purchases  in  Richmond 
is  true.  For  what  would  have  cost  before  the  war,  at  regular  market 
prices, -$64  15,  I  did  pay  $1368  03.  But  this  was  disclosing  no  import 
ant  state  secret,  inasmuch  as  you  furnish  them  with  the  prices  current 
once  or  twice  a  week,  and  these  current  prices  are  as  well  known  in  New 
York  as  they  are  to  me.  But  I  did  not  tell  it  with  any  expectation  that 
it  was  to  get  into  the  newspapers,  for  when  I  mentioned  it  I  did  not  know 
to  whom  I  was  addressing  myself.  The  gentleman  came,  as  many  others 
did,  to  pay  his  respects,  and  it  was  not  until  he  was  going  away  that  he 
handed  me  his  card,  by  which  I  ascertained  that  he  was  an  army  corre 
spondent  of  the  New  York  Herald.  I  incidentally  mentioned  the  fact  in 
speaking  of  the  great  scarcity  of  and  high  prices  for  every  thing.  To 
this  part  of  his  letter,  therefore,  I  made  no  objection.  But,  in  yoirr  com 
ments  on  this  letter,  you  say  '  Mr.  Botts  came  to  Richmond  on  quite  a 
different  errand  than  on  a  marketing  expedition.  He  came  to  draw  some 
twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  dollars  of  the  government  which  he  delights  to 
abuse,  and  affects  so  much  to  despise.  He  abhors  the  government,  but 
loves  its  money.'  In  the  first  place,  let  me  say  that,  whatever  I  may 
think  of  the  government,  I  have  never  felt  myself  entirely  at  liberty  in  this 
land  of  freedom  to  say  half  as  much  against  its  administration  as  I  have 
read  in  your  own  editorial  columns.  But  I  have  never  made  professions 
of  devotion  to  the  government.  I  have  never  ceased  to  feel  a  warm  in 
terest  in  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  Virginia,  with  whose  prosperity  and 
freedom  my  own  are  entirely  identified  ;  and  I  will  take  occasion  to  say 
here  what  I  said  to  General  Meade,  and  have  said  to  all,  that  my  earnest 
prayer  is  that  this  revolution  may  result  in  whatever  may  contribute  most 
to  the  permanent  peace,  happiness,  prosperity,  and  freedom  of  the  people 
of  Virginia.  These  are  the  blessings  of  a  good  government.  This  is 
what  I  suppose  is  desired  and  aimed  at  by  all,  unless  the  selfish  politi 
cians  and  the  corrupt  speculators  in  and  out  of  the  army  may  constitute  an 
exception.  They  care  not  under  what  sort  of  government  they  live,  pro 
vided  they  fill  the  high  places  and  have  their  pockets  well  lined.  We 


300  APPENDIX. 

may  differ  possibly,  and  perhaps  honestly,  as  to  the  best  means  of  attain 
ing  these  desirable  ends.  If  it  is  by  the  success  of  the  revolution,  then  I 
pray  God  the  revolution  may  succeed ;  but  if  by  a  restoration  of  the  Union, 
then  I  hope  the  Union  may  be  restored.  What  I  want  is  a  government 
that  has  the  will  and  the  power  to  protect  my  person  and  my  property 
against  all  abuses,  and  that  I  would  prefer  living  as  I  did  before  the  war 
to  living  as  I  have  done  since  the  war,  is  beyond  all  question ;  and  I 
would  be  a  madman  or  a  fool  if  I  did  not,  and  a  knave  and  hypocrite  if 
I  were  to  pretend  otherwise. 

"3d.  I  hope  I  committed  no  unpardonable  offense  if  I  did  go  to  Rich 
mond  to  collect,  or  try  to  collect  some  $12,000  or  $15,000,  for  which  I 
furnished  supplies,  or,  rather,  for  which  supplies  were  taken  from  me  for 
the  use  of  the  Confederate  army,  all  of  which  were  certified  to  as  being 
due  by  the  commanders  of  regiments  or  by  quarter-masters,  but  which 
were  not  paid  because  the  accounts  were  not  made  out  in  the  precise 
form  authorized  at  what  you  have  called  the  ' '  red  tape  and  circumlocu 
tion  offices,"  which  accounts  are  still  due,  and  unpaid,  and,  I  fear,  are 
likely  to  remain  so. 

"Finally,  it  has  been  announced  that  I  have  been  arrested  and  sent  to 
Richmond ;  but  those  who  made  the  arrest  and  those  who  made  the  an 
nouncement  have  taken  good  care  not  to  mention  the  cause  of  the  arrest, 
thereby  leaving  the  public  to  infer  that  I  had  committed  some  grave  of 
fense  against  the  government  which  you  say  I  do  much  abhor.  God 
knows  it,  and  its  agents  have  given  me  no  great  reason  to  worship  it. 

"Let  us  see  how  the  account  stands.  On  my  part  I  have  done  nothing, 
from  first  to  last,  of  which  this  government  can  complain,  unless  it  be  that 
I  have  not  become  Democratized,  and  have  made  no  concessions  to  De 
mocracy,  and  have  none  to  make  hereafter,  and  because  I  have  not  cho 
sen  to  follow  blindly  wherever  Democracy  might  choose  to  lead. 

"On  the  other  hand,  of  what  have  I  to  complain?  First,  the  legis 
lative  power  of  the  government  has  been  especially  directed  against  me 
while  I  was  leading  the  most  retired  and  secluded  life,  as  was  clearly 
admitted  by  the  Hon.  Henry  S.  Foote  at  the  following  session  of  Con 
gress,  when  he  said  he  had  been  induced  to  vote  for  the  declaration  of 
martial  law  and  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  upon  a  represent 
ation  of  the  condition  of  things  supposed  to  exist  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  city  of  Richmond,  but  which  turned  out  to  be  entirely  groundless. 
Second,  the  power  of  the  Executive  branch  of  the  government  has  been 
exerted  against  me,  when,  under  this  detestable,  unwritten,  unknown 


APPENDIX.  301 

code  called  martial  law,  upon  no  charge  preferred  before  the  Court  of  In 
quiry,  they  had  me  arrested  in  my  bed  between  the  hours  of  midnight  arid 
daybreak,  hurried  me  off  to  a  dirty,  filthy  negro  jail,  where  I  was  kept  in 
solitary  confinement  for  eight  weeks,  when,  with  all  the  vigilance  and  re 
search  of  their  numerous  detectives,  they  could  find  nothing  upon  which 
to  hinge  a  charge ;  and  now  comes  the  second  arrest,  without  a  charge, 
while  the  army  itself  has  been  turned  loose  upon  me  to  destroy  my  prop 
erty  by  design,  and  by  order  of  officers  in  high  command,  which  I  can  es 
tablish  if  I  can  procure  their  arrest  and  trial  by  court-martial ;  under  which 
order  my  yard,  garden,  and  corn-fields  have  been  ruthlessly  invaded,  the 
fencing  of  each  torn  down  to  the  ground,  and  all  converted  into  a  general 
camp-ground,  camp-fires  built,  and  horses  turned  into  each  by  the  4th 
Virginia  Cavalry,  under  command  of  Captain  Randolph ;  and  when  Dr. 
Kidwell  (with  whom  I  had  been  until  ten  o'clock  picking  up  and  nursing 
the  wounded  men  of  both  parties,  more  than  twenty  of  whom  were  brought 
to  my  house)  remonstrated  with  them,  they  said  it  was  wrong,  and  should 
not  have  done  it,  but  they  were  ordered  to  destroy  '  whatever  they  damn 
pleased.'  And  upon  this  being  repeated  by  Dr.  Kidwell  to  Captain  Ran 
dolph,  he  neither  affirmed  nor  denied  that  such  orders  had  been  given. 
From  which  cases  of  violence,  together  with  the  effects  produced  by  my 
arrest  on  the  next  day,  one  of  my  daughters  has  been  ill  of  nervous  ty 
phoid  fever  ever  since.  And  not  only  has  my  fencing  been  torn  down 
and  destroyed  in  every  direction,  but  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  of  my  best 
hogs  have  been  shot  down,  and  I  have  not  been  left  one  ear  of  my  entire 
crop  of  corn,  all  of  which  that  could  not  be  used  was  carried  off  or  burnt  in 
the  field.  And  I  now  challenge  any  and  every  man  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  to  come  forward  with  any  charge  that  can  be  made  against  me 
for  any  thing  said  or  done  for  which  their  government  or  its  army  can 
justly  complain.  And  but  for  the  protection  now  afforded  me  by  a  guard 
from  the  head-quarters  of  General  R.  E.  Lee,  none  can  tell  to  what  condi 
tion  I  should  have  been  reduced.  Have  I  then,  Mr.  Editor,  think  you, 
had  much  reason  for  attachment  or  devotion  to  a  government  by  which  I 
have  been  thus  treated  ?  You  complain  of  the  treatment  Mr.  Vallandig- 
ham  has  received  at  the  hands  of  his  government.  He  made  many  vio 
lent  speeches,  in  which  he  took  active  and  strong  grounds  against  his  gov 
ernment,  and  for  this  he  was  sent  among  his  friends,  as  they  supposed. 

"But  I  have  done  nothing,  taken  no  part,  but  maintained  firmly  and 
consistently,  as  I  shall  continue  to  do,  my  own  private  opinions  and  the 
convictions  of  my  best  judgment,  which  have  not  been  controlled  by  any 


302  APPENDIX. 

considerations  of  selfishness,  ambition,  or  fear,  as  I  wrote  the  Secretary  of 
War  while  I  was  confined  in  M'Daniels's  negro  jail  in  the  spring  of 
18G2 ;  and  because  I  can  not  surrender  these  convictions,  am  I  thus  to  be 
oppressed  and  persecuted  by  the  government  and  army  ?  I  want  no  bet 
ter  vindication  for  having  withheld  my  approval  of  the  war  than  is  to  bo 
found  in  the  fact  that  there  is  not  one  of  those  who  aided  in  bringing  it  on 
that  would  do  it,  if,  with  their  present  experience,  it  had  to  be  done  over 
again,  or  if  they  could  have  foreseen  what  has  followed,  all  of  which  I  did 
foresee  and  foretell ;  and  if  any  man  with  brains  in  his  head  and  a  heart 
in  his  bosom  says  he  would,  then  I  say  flatly  I  don't  believe  he  tells  the 
truth. 

"But  to  come  back  to  my  second  arrest  by  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart.  On 
Monday  morning,  the  12th  inst.,  following  the  night  of  the  ruthless  and 
heartless  destruction  of  my  property,  General  Stuart's  provost  marshal 
rode  up  with  a  guard  to  my  house  with  a  warrant,  of  which  the  following 
is  a  copy : 

"  l  Head-quarters  Cavalry  Corps,  October  12, 1863. 
"  'Lieutenant  RYALLS: 

"'You  will  arrest  John  Minor  Botts  and  send  him  to  Eichmond. 
Charges  will  be  forwarded  from  these  head-quarters  as  soon  as  practica 
ble.  Don't  allow  him  to  annoy  General  Lee,  but  keep  him  as  a  prisoner 
of  state.  Let  me  know  how  many  prisoners. 

"  'By  command  of  Major  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart, 

" '  A.  K.  VENABLE,  Major  and  Adjutant.' 

"Upon  this  warrant,  containing  no  charge,  I  was  arrested  about  half 
past  ten  o'clock  on  Monday  morning,  carried  under  guard  to  Culpepper 
Court-house,  kept  there  until  five  o'clock,  and  then  discharged  on  the 
ground  that  there  was  no  charge  against  me ;  but  I  have  been  semi-offi- 
cially  informed  from  two  sources,  either  of  which  would  be  regarded  as 
authentic,  that  the  sole  ground  of  my  arrest  was  that  I  had  entertained 
General  Meade  and  other  general  officers  at  my  table :  and  if  it  was  not 
that,  it  was  some  other  pretext  equally  frivolous  and  contemptible,  which 
I  hereby  challenge  General  Stuart  to  lay  before  the  public ;  and  if  it  be 
any  offense  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  General  Stuart  or  of  the  Con 
federate  government  that  I  should  have  entertained  Federal  officers  at 
my  table,  which  would  justify  my  arrest,  then  Major  General  Stuart  has 
signally  failed  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  to  the  peace  and  dignity  ef  the 
aforesaid  Major  General  Stuart  by  not  bringing  me  to  trial  for  this  high 


APPENDIX.  303 

crime  and  misdemeanor ;  for  although  it  is  not  true  that  General  Meade 
took  his  dinner  at  my  table,  I  hereby  make  it  known  to  all  whom  it  may 
concern  that  I  invited  him  to  do  so,  and  deeply  regretted  that  his  constant 
engagements  prevented  his  acceptance  of  the  invitation.  I  moreover  pro 
claim  that,  if  he  should  return  to  this  vicinity  (which  I  do  not  at  all  an 
ticipate),  I  shall,  in  all  probability,  subject  myself  to  another  arrest  by  a 
repetition  of  the  offense,  without  consulting  General  Stuart's  pleasure  on 
the  subject. 

"The  truth  is,  I  have  entertained  freely  and  hospitably  the  officers  and 
gentlemen  of  both  armies  whose  acquaintance  I  have  enjoyed,  and  shall 
continue  to  do  so  so  long  as  I  am  master  of  my  own  house,  and  so  long 
as  they  treat  me  with  kindness  and  civility,  let  it  offend  whom  it  may, 
provided  the  means  are  left  me  with  which  to  entertain  them,  and  unless, 
in  the  mean  time,  I  shall  be  prohibited  by  law  or  by  some  higher  authori 
ty  than  that  of  General  Stuart. 

"In  fact,  I  have  met  with  no  officer  in  the  Confederate  army,  and  with 
few  privates,  with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  from  General  Robert  E.  Lee 
down,  with  the  exception  of  General  Stuart,  that  I  have  not  invited  to  my 
house — nearly  all  of  whom  have  partaken  of  my  hospitality — while  hund 
reds  of  half-famished  soldiers  have  been  furnished  with  meals,  for  which 
I  have  never  charged  the  first  dime,  while  they  were  in  the  habit  of  pay 
ing,  as  they  said  themselves,  to  brawling  secessionists  from  two  to  three 
dollars  a  meal ;  but  this  furnished  no  ground  of  complaint  with  any  gen 
tleman  of  the  Northern  army,  many  of  whom  expressed  their  surprise  and 
gratification  on  hearing  that  they  had  visited  me  thus  freely  and  famil 
iarly. 

"But  no  sooner  was  I  arrested,  than  the  whole  atmosphere  was  filled 
with  rumors  to  my  disadvantage  and  prejudice ;  among  the  rest,  that  I 
had  been  caught  in  the  Federal  lines  on  the  day  of  the  fight  with  arms  in 
my  hands,  to  be  used  against  the  Confederate  government. 

"  The  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  this  rumor  are  as  follows :  As 
a  portion  of  the  Federal  cavalry  passed  my  house  about  two  o'clock  on 
Sunday,  my  neighbor,  Mr.  Bradford,  sent  me  a  note,  saying  he  had  been 
arrested,  and  was  then  in  the  custody  of  the  Federal  officers,  and  asked 
me  to  ride  over  to  Brandy  Station  to  meet  him,  which  I  did. 

"  On  my  return,  I  passed  General  Lamar's  brigade  ;  and  when  half  their 
column  had  passed  me,  and  was  between  me  and  the  Unionists,  and  in 
the  presence  of  the  other  half,  I  met  young  Slaughter,  the  son  of  Dr. 
Slaughter,  of  Culpeppcr  Court-house,  who  had  a  gun  and  knapsack  in  his 


304  APPENDIX. 

hand,  with  which  encumbrance  he  could  not  control  his  horse,  and  he 
asked  me  to  take  it  with  me  to  my  house,  and  to  keep  it  until  he  called  for 
it.  At  great  inconvenience  I  took  it,  and  this  act  of  kindness  and  accom 
modation  to  Mr.  Slaughter  was  tortured  into  my  bearing  arms  against  the 
South,  though  General  Stuart  himself  knew  what  had  carried  me  to 
Brandy ;  for  he  had  seen  a  Tetter  from  me  to  Mrs.  Bradford  telling  her 
of  the  arrest  of  her  husband,  and  of  my  having  been  sent  for  to  meet  him 
at  Brandy  Station. 

"However,  these  rumors,  publications,  and  arrests  have  had  their  de 
sired  effect,  as  they  have  led  to  the  most  wanton,  wicked,  and  savage  de 
struction  of  my  property  such  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  and  excited 
the  prejudice  of  the  army,  and,  possibly,  of  misled  citizens,  against  me. 
But  I  hope  to  outlive  it  all,  while  the  authors  of  such  vandalism  will  be 
held  to  a  just  accountability  at  the  hands  of  a  military  commander  whose 
moral,  intellectual,  and  military  qualities  are  justly  esteemed  by  the  whole 
country ;  and  if  not  by  him,  then  by  a  still  higher  military  authority,  to 
wit,  the  War  Department ;  and  if  not  there,  then  by  the  civil  tribunals 
of  the  country  ;  and  if  not  there,  then  by  a  just,  discriminating,  and  in 
dignant  public  judgment. 

And  now  let  me  inquire,  has  martial  law  been  declared  again  ?  and  if 
not,  when,  where,  how,  and  from  whom  did  General  Stuart  derive  the 
authority  to  arrest  me  or  any  other  citizen  for  any  offense  whatever,  and 
retain  me  as  a  prisoner  of  state  ?  If  any  charge  was  to  be  preferred 
against  me  for  a  civil  offense,  where  were  the  civil  authorities  ?  and  why 
was  not  complaint  lodged  with  them  upon  affidavit,  as  the  law  requires  ? 
How  came  I,  a  private,  peaceable,  and  quiet  citizen,  subject  to  the  mili 
tary  authority  of  General  Stuart,  and  why  was  I  not  to  be  allowed,  if  I 
thought  proper,  to  appeal  to  his  superior  in  command,  General  Lee, 
against  his  flagrant  usurpation  of  power  and  most  inexcusable  instance 
of  false  imprisonment  ? 

"If  I  mistake  not,  Congress,  by  an  express  vote,  refused  to  grant  these 
high  prerogatives  of  dictatorial  power  to  Mr.  Davis.  How  is  it,  then,  that 
General  Stuart  undertakes  first  to  establish  a  martial  law  for  himself,  and 
then  virtually  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  by  a  denial  of  my 
right  to  appeal  to  his  superior  in  command? 

"If  such  power  can  be  exercised  by  General  Stuart  with  impunity, 
with  whom  and  where  does  the  power  stop  ?  To  how  low  a  grade  of  mil 
itary  authority  does  it  descend  ?  And  I  may  farther  ask,  why,  of  all  the 
gentlemen  in  and  around  the  court-house  who  entertained  Federal  offi- 


APPENDIX.  305 

cers,  was  I  alone  to  be  selected  for  the  exercise  of  this  military  power — 
for  this  indignity  and  outrage  ?  These  are  all  questions  of  grave  interest 
to  the  liberty  of  every  citizen  that  can  not  and  shall  not  be  slurred  over, 
if  there  is  any  justice  in  the  military  department  of  this  government  or 
independence  in  the  judiciary  of  this  state. 

"  Hitherto  I  have  been  silent  as  to  the  wrongs,  injuries,  and  indignities 
that  have  been  heaped  upon  me  ;  but  I  am  not  a  spaniel  to  lie  down  and 
crouch  at  the  bidding  of  any  master,  nor  to  lick  the  hand  that  smites  me, 
nor  am  I  Christian  enough  when  one  cheek  is  slapped  to  turn  the  other ; 
and  if  I  am  thus  to  be  selected  as  a  particular  object  of  persecution,  and 
can  find  no  protection  from  the  law,  then  will  I  protect  myself.  This  I 
can  not  do  against  the  government  or  the  army,  but  I  can  and  will  do  it 
when  the  law,  military  and  civil,  both  fails  me,  against  any  one  man  that 
this  Confederacy  can  boast. 

"When  I  purchased  my  present  home,  it  was  to  seek  retirement  and 
obscurity,  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  world,  and  to  follow  for  the  balance 
of  my  life  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  agriculture.  There  was  then  no  army 
here,  nor  did  I  suppose  there  would  be  one.  I  disturbed  nobody,  went 
nowhere  except  among  kind  and  friendly  neighbors,  with  whom  it  has 
been  my  good  fortune  to  secure  as  large  a  share  of  respect  and  esteem  as 
any  one  who  has  ever  lived  in  the  county ;  and  in  this  condition  of  things 
it  was  that,  in  imitation  of  the  Confederate  government,  '  All  I  asked  was 
to  be  let  alone.' 

"  But  what  is  the  liberty  of  any  citizen  worth  if  a  military  commander 
can,  in  the  exercise  of  a  despotic  power,  or  a  weak  and  imbecile  discre 
tion,  or  in  a  fit  of  spleen  toward  one  who  has  offended,  by  reporting  him 
for  official  misconduct,  in  which  eight  other  gentlemen  united,  drag  that 
citizen  from  the  bosom  of  his  family,  heap  upon  him  the  indignity  and 
wrong  of  having  him  arrested  and  conducted  through  the  streets  of  a 
crowded  village  under  guard,  keep  him  in  that  condition  long  enough  for 
all  sorts  of  idle  and  malicious  rumors  to  be  circulated  and  sent  over  the 
telegraphic  wires  respecting  him,  and  order  his  discharge  upon  the  ground 
that  there  is  nothing  to  be  alleged  against  him  ? 

"  And  now,  Mr.  Editor,  in  conclusion,  let  me  say  that  the  press  may 
continue  to  misrepresent  and  abuse  me ;  I  may  be  arrested  and  thrown 
into  a  dungeon  ;  my  fencing  may  be  torn  down  and  destroyed ;  my  crops 
may  be  laid  waste  and  carried  off;  my  stock  may  be  stolen  or  shot  down 
under  my  own  eyes ;  my  house  may  be  burned  down  over  my  own  head, 
as  has  been  threatened,  but  I  can  not,  for  all  that,  be  induced  to  swerve  a 


306  APPENDIX. 

hair's  breadth  from  the  line  of  conduct  that  my  own  judgment  and  con 
science  may  dictate,  which  is  to  take  no  lot,  part,  or  share  in  the  responsi 
bility  that  rests  upon  those  who  have  brought  this  whirlpool  of  desolation 
and  ruin  upon  my  unfortunate  country.  Nor  shall  I  depart  from  the  po 
sition  I  have  taken  of  doing  nothing  that  can  justly  subject  me  to  out 
rage,  animadversion,  or  rebuke.  But  if  to  adhere  firmly  and  consistently 
to  the  opinions  and  principles  that  I  have  maintained  for  thirty  years,  and 
if  to  prefer  living  as  I  did  before  the  war  to  living  as  I  have  done  since  the 
war  makes  me  a  traitor,  then  a  traitor's  life  let  me  live,  or  a  traitor's  death 
let  me  die.  I  am  respectfully  yours,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

"  P.S. — Since  the  above  was  written,  a  copy  of  the  Examiner  has  reach 
ed  me,  containing  the  following  announcement : 

"'The  battle  took  place  on  the  farm  of  John  Minor  Botts.  *  *  * 
We  may  here  remark  that  the  property  on  the  farm  of  this  extraordinary 
individual,  of  whom  the  Confederate  States  stand  in  such  fear,  had  been 
religiously  respected  by  the  Yankees ;  whereas  the  country  around  was 
little  better  than  a  wilderness,  his  fences  and  crops  were  untouched. 
But  that  night  made  a  change  in  its  condition.  Three  thousand  Confed 
erate  cavalry  bivouacked  there  after  the  battle,  and  fed  their  horses  in  his 
corn-field.  The  next  morning  there  were  very  few  fence-rails  and  very 
little  corn  left.  The  men  could  be  heard  to  say,  while  building  high  their 
fires,  "Pile  on,  boys;  they  are  nothing  but  d — d  old  Union  rails."  ' 

"I  am  glad  to  avail  myself  of  the  testimony  of  this  'leaky  vessel,'  who 
fully  confirms  what  I  have  said  above ;  but  although  he  does  not  state 
what  is  true  in  regard  to  the  general  destruction  of  property  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  for  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  say  that  a  guard  was  furnished 
to  every  family  that  asked  for  it,  all  of  whose  property  was  amply  protect 
ed,  as  every  one  in  the  neighborhood  will -testify,  yet  he  certainly  states 
what  is  true  in  regard  to  the  general  destruction  of  my  property ;  and  I 
must  say  that  the  achievement  of  three  thousand  cavalry  conquering  one 
man  and  a  corn-field  is  one  of  which,  in  the  future,  they  can  take  no  great 
pride  when  their  prejudices  and  passions  have  subsided. 

"Another  article  has  also  appeared  in  the  Dispatch  recommending  my 
imprisonment  or  banishment,  which  is  altogether  unworthy  of  notice.  I 
will  only  say  that,  whatever  other  difficulties  I  may  labor  under,  I  do  not 
esteem  it  a  misfortune  that  I  have  no  soldiers  at  my  command  to  turn 
loose  upon  any  citizen,  nor  aids  at  my  elbow  to  bring  them  into  discredit 
with  the  people.  Thank  God,  when  there  is  a  necessity  for  it,  I  can  do  my 
own  writing  and  my  own  fighting.  J.  M.  B." 


APPENDIX.  307 

What  would  have  been  the  effect,  if  this  letter  had  been  published  in 
Kichmond  at  the  time,  surrounded  as  I  was  at  the  moment  by  General 
Lee's  whole  army,  with  Stuart  and  his  cavalry  on  my  immediate  premises, 
I  know  not.  Whether  it  would  have  produced  a  reactionary  feeling,  or 
have  led,  as  my  friends  apprehended,  to  still  more  serious  consequences, 
can  not  now  be  told;  but  let  the  consequences  have  been  what  they 
might,  I  resolved  to  keep  silent  no  longer.  I  was  actuated  far  more  by 
a  pride  of  manhood  than  by  the  timidity  of  a  contemptible  sneak,  or  a  sub 
missive  slave  to  military  power.  When  I  first  heard  that  Mr.  Daniel,  the 
then  editor  of  the  Examiner,  had  declined  to  publish  the  letter  because  of 
its  "  hard  hits"  at  the  Confederacy,  I  wrote  to  my  friends,  insisting  that  it 
should  be  published  in  some  paper,  and  be  paid  for  at  advertising  prices, 
but  they  had  become  alarmed  for  my  personal  safety  under  its  publication 
and  withheld  it.  This  I  had  not  ascertained  when  the  Federal  army 
came  in,  which  cut  off  all  mail  intercourse  with  Richmond.  When  I  did 
learn  it,  I  was  sorely  vexed  ;  but  as  I  knew  it  proceeded  from  the  warmest 
feelings  of  kindness  and  friendship  for  me,  I  could  not  complain ;  but  I 
could  not  help  feeling  that  while  the  government,  army,  and  people  were 
all  pommeling  me  in  the  face,  that  it  was  hard  to  have  my  hands  tied  by 
my  friends,  to  keep  me  from  striking  back  at  my  assailants.  It  is  proper 
I  should  here  say,  that  from  a  scrupulous  regard  to  the  obligations  of  my 
parole,  which  I  believed  carried  no  moral  obligation  with  it  after  I  ceased 
to  be  within  the  Confederate  lines,  yet  preferring  to  err,  if  at  all,  on  the 
safe  'side,  I  was  far  more  circumspect  and  reticent  in  my  conversations 
with  Federal  officers  than  I  was  with  the  officers  of  the  Confederate  army, 
to  whom  I  expressed  my  hostility  to  the  government  and  the  rebellion  in 
the  most  unreserved  and  unmistakable  manner. 

A   CLEAR    RECORD    DESIRED. 

Here  my  task  might  be  closed,  but  that  I  desire  to  present  a  clear  rec 
ord,  and  furnish  a  full  vindication  of  my  whole  line  of  policy  from  first  to 
last  upon  all  the  questions  connected  with  or  growing  out  of  the  rebel 
lion,  and  of  all  that  I  have  said  or  done  of  a  public  nature,  which,  for 
want  of  access  to  the  Southern  "  reconstructed  press,"  is  known  only  to  a 
limited  circle,  by  which  I  hope,  if  I  can  not  secure  the  confidence  of  the 
deluded  and  cheated  South,  I  may  at  least  command  their  respect  by  my 
consistency  and  duty  to  my  country,  and  by  my  faithful  and  self-sacrifi 
cing  devotion  to  their  true  interests,  which  have  been  so  wantonly,  cruel 
ly,  and  wickedly  sacrificed  by  the  EMPIRICS,  PYROTECHNISTS,  TINKERS, 


308  APPENDIX. 

QUACKS,  traders  and  stock-jobbers  in  politics,  who  arc  again  at  their  old 
work  of  educating  the  people  to  a  feeling  of  disaffection  and  hostility  to 
their  government,  which  they  have  no  choice  but  to  obey,  and  who  have, 
by  their  exhibitions  of  disloyalty,  retarded  for  an  indefinite  period  the  reg 
ular  and  formal  participation  of  the  South  in  the  affairs  of  their  national 
government,  and  to  whose  control  I  do  not  mean  again  to  submit  my  for 
tunes,  or  my  personal  liberties  or  rights,  without  raising  a  voice  of  remon 
strance  or  making  an  effort  to  throw  it  off. 

In  the  winter  of  1863,  '4, 1  received  a  letter  from  an  officer  of  the  "  re 
stored  government"  of  Virginia,  whose  Legislature  was  then  sitting  in 
Alexandria,  and  while  I  was  in  the  Federal  lines,  urging  me  to  accept  at 
the  hands  of  that  Legislature  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
to  which  I  made  the  following  reply : 

"Auburn,  Culpepper  County,  Va.,  January  7,  1SG4. 

"DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  the  letter  of  Mr.  S ,  in  which  he  urges 

in  very  earnest  terms  that  I  should  accept  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  at  the  hands  of  the  Legislature  now  in  session  in  Alexan 
dria,  an  election  which  he  seems  to  think  I  have  no  right  to  decline,  as 
the  friends  of  the  Union  every  where  desire  it. 

"Permit  me  to  say,  my  good  sir,  that  I  duly  appreciate  the  honor  de 
signed,  which  is  far  beyond  any  thing  that  I  have  reason  to  expect,  now 
or  hereafter,  from  any  other  source ;  but  high  and  dignified  as  is  the  po 
sition  of  United  States  senator,  which  in  ordinary  times  is  one  that  might 
reasonably  satisfy  the  ambition  of  any  moderate  man,  yet  in  the  present 
condition  of  the  country,  and  of  the  state  of  which  I  am  '  native  here  and 
to  the  manner  born,'  I  could  not  with  propriety,  and  with  my  convictions 
of  duty,  accept  any  appointment  at  the  hands  of  either  of  the  numerous 
governments  now  exercising  legislative  powers  over  any  of  the  dismem 
bered  fragments  of  what  once  constituted  the  proud  and  revered  old  com 
monwealth  of  Virginia. 

"In  taking  the  position  I  have  done  in  reference  to  the  rebellion,  I 
have  been  actuated  by  no  sordid  considerations,  and  by  no  selfish  desire  to 
advance  my  political  or  personal  fortunes ;  but  it  has  been  forced  upon  me 
by  the  clear,  unclouded,  conscientious,  and  overwhelming  convictions  of  my 
best  judgment,  free  from  all  passion,  prejudice,  or  ambition. 

"Erom  the  present  aspect  of  affairs,  as  they  appear  from  the  stand 
point  I  occupy,  it  looks  as  if  the  day  was  not  very  far  distant  when  (if 
ever)  I  may  be  of  some  service  in  healing  those  dissensions  and  distrac 
tions,  growing  out  of  the  grossest  misrepresentations  and  frauds,  that  now 


APPENDIX.  309 

divide  the  nation,  the  state,  and  almost  every  locality,  and  of  developing, 
to  some  extent,  that  sentiment  of  loyalty  and  nationality  which,  though 
smothered  for  the  time,  has  never  yet  been  extinguished ;  but  this  can 
only  be  done,  if  at  all,  by  adhering  firmly  and  consistently  to  the  opinions 
and  principles  of  a  long  life,  which  have  'grown  with  my  growth  and 
strengthened  with  my  strength,'  until  they  have  become  a  part  of  my 
second  nature.  In  other  words,  I  must  permit  no  shadow  of  suspicion 
from  any  quarter  to  attach  to  my  unselfish  patriotism  or  the  disinterested 
integrity  of  my  purpose,  which  the  acceptance  of  office  might  subject  me  to. 

"The  extent  of  my  aspirations  for  the  present  is  to  return  'good  for 
evil'  to  this  once  venerable  and  venerated,  but  now  poor,  down-trodden, 
shattered,  heartlessly  sacrificed,  and  dilapidated  old  '  Mother  of  States,' 
that  has  been  reduced  to  her  present  miserable  condition  by  her  leading 
and  trusted  statesmen,  who,  with  miscalculation  upon  miscalculation,  and 
blunder  upon  blunder,  with  every  prophecy  and  promise  unfulfilled,  have 
been  groping  their  way  in  Siberian  darkness,  and  with  the  most  inex 
cusable  ignorance,  after  a  phantom  engendered  by  a  corroded  and  dis 
eased  imagination,  which  was  excited  by  a  heartless  selfishness  and  in 
sane  ambition  to  perpetuate  their  own  power,  that  has  been  without  a 
parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

"I  am  aware  that  my  counsels,  for  the  last  three  years,  have  been 
spurned  and  derided,  and  my  person  even  threatened  with  violence  by 
many  who  once  looked  with  a  more  charitable  and  friendly  eye  upon  my 
suggestions  and  advice. 

"I  have  reason  to  think  this  hallucination  is  passing  away,  and  is  being 
rapidly  dissipated  by  the  terrible  ordeal  to  which  the  fortunes  of  the  South 
have  been  subjected  ;  and  it  may  be,  at  least  I  am  not  without  such  hope, 
that  at  some  future  day  I  may,  in  some  icay,  stand  as  a  link  between  the 
North  and  the  South,  by  which  the  chain  which  once  bound  them  together 
may  again  connect  them ;  and  to  this  complexion  I  must  come  at  last, 
for  neither  passion,  nor  prejudice,  nor  pride,  nor  suffering,  nor  want,  nor 
hunger,  nor  strife  can  endure  forever ;  and  the  time  must  come  when  men 
will  look  at  things  as  they  are,  and  no  longer  close  their  eyes  at  bright 
midday,  and  swear  that  the  sun  does  not  shine,  because  they  desire  to 
shut  out  the  light. 

"For  these  and  many  other  reasons  not  necessary  to  mention  here,  I 
must  beg  to  be  excused  for  respectfully  declining  the  high  position  to 
which  it  is  proposed  to  elevate  me. 

"I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,     JOHN  M.  BOTTS." 


310  APPENDIX. 

MR.  BOTTS'S   LINCOLN   LETTER. 

About  this  time  I  received  a  letter  from  a  friend  in  Washington,  who 
expressed  an  anxious  desire  to  learn  what  impressions  I  had  formed  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  administration.  I  answered  him  at  some  length. 
In  the  discussion  of  various  questions  connected  with  the  war,  embracing 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  the  status  of  the  states,  etc.,  etc.,  with 
Federal  officers,  reverend  divines,  professors  of  law  in  collegiate  institu 
tions,  and  others  who  called  to  pay  their  respects,  I  had  not  unfrequent 
occasion  to  read  this  letter.  There  was  a  general  wish  expressed  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  could  see  it.  I  said,  while  it  was  a  private  letter,  intended 
for  no  eye  than  that  of  the  friend  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  and  while 
I  had  no  right  to  obtrude  my  opinions  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  yet  if  Mr.  Lin 
coln  should  express  a  desire  to  see  it,  I  could  have  no  objection  to  his  do 
ing  so.  This,  I  suppose,  was  communicated  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  for  he  short 
ly  after  did  express  a  wish  to  see  the  letter,  and  the  gentleman  to  whom 
it  was  addressed  was  authorized  to  place  it  in  his  hands,  which  he  did. 
Some  three  months  after  the  friend  called  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  let 
ter,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  replied,  ' '  The  letter  is  your  private  property,  of 
course,  and,  if  you  require  it,  I  must  return  it  to  you,  but  you  would 
greatly  oblige  me  by  permitting  me  to  retain  it;"  to  which  my  friend 
assented,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  died  with  it  in  his  possession. 

There  is  one  incident  connected  with  this  letter  of  which  I  feel  con 
siderable  satisfaction,  and  at  the  risk  of  the  charge  of  vanity,  I  will  here 
mention. 

On  one  occasion,  twelve  gentlemen,  chiefly  ministers  of  the  Gospel, 
headed  by  Charles  Stewart,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  President  of  the  Chris 
tian  Association,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kirk,  of  Boston,  called  to  see  me ;  we 
got  into  a  discussion  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  I  read  this 
letter  to  them,  as  expressive  of  my  views  on  the  subject.  When  I  finish 
ed  the  letter,  Mr.  Stewart  rose  from  his  seat,  and  with  some  very  flatter 
ing  remarks,  said,  substantially,  "  that  no  such  emotions  had  been  created 
in  his  bosom  since  the  commencement  of  the  war  as  had  been  excited  by 
the  reading  of  that  letter,  and  that  he  thought  it  was  eminently  proper 
that  they  should  return  thanks  to  God  that  one  such  man  had  been  pre 
served  in  the  South,  and  that  the  Divine  blessing  should  be  asked  upon 
the  head  of  the  'venerable  statesman'  who  had  been  capable  of  entertain 
ing  and  expressing  sentiments  of  so  much  patriotism  and  devotion  to  his 
country ;"  whereupon  the  Rev,  Dr.  Kirk  offered  up  a  most  impressive 


APPENDIX.  311 

prayer,  which  awakened  feelings  in  my  bosom  which  I  shall  not  soon 
forget. 

The  following  is  extracted  from  the  letter  dated  22d  of  January,  1864 : 
"Next  you  want  to  know  what  I  think  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  adminis 
tration,  and  you  express  the  hope  that  it  has  met  with  my  approval." 
Well,  I  will  be  frank  with  you,  and  tell  you  freely  but  confidentially  what 
I  think  of  both. 

I  think,  then,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  is  by  nature  a  vigorous,  strong-minded, 
and  conscientious  man,  honest  in  his  purposes,  and  indefatigable  in  the 
exercise  of  what  he  conceives  to  be  the  duties  of  his  office.  In  natural 
endowments,  I  doubt  if  he  is  not  quite  equal,  if  not  superior  to  any  of 
those  by  whom  he  is  surrounded.  He  is  not  so  cultivated  as  many,  be 
cause  he  had  not  the  same  advantages  in  early  life,  but  he  is  what  I  always 
honor,  an  original  and  self-made  man,  and  is  what  I  have  generally  called 
one  of  God  Almighty's  educated  men ;  that  is,  he  gets  what  he  knows 
chiefly  from  his  Creator.  Dogberry  says,  "Reading  and  writing  comes 
by  nature,  but  to  be  a  well-favored  man  is  the  gift  of  God ;"  and  in  this 
latter  particular  I  do  not  think  Mr.  Lincoln  is  as  munificiently  endowed 
as  he  has  been  in  the  more  essential  qualities  of  head  and  heart ;  but  be 
lieving  him  to  be  a  true  and  sound  patriot,  and  an  honest  man,  I  can 
make  proper  allowances  for  many  things  of  which  I  might  otherwise  com 
plain  ;  for  you  must  not  infer  from  what  I  have  said  that  I  approve  of 
all  that  Mr.  Lincoln  has  done ;  but  then  I  do  not  expect  any  man  to  do 
exactly  as  I  would  have  him  to  do,  for  I  am  not  very  certain  if  I  were  in 
his  place,  I  would  not  do  many  things  that  my  own  judgment  might  not 
entirely  approve.  We  are  all  creatures  of  circumstances  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  and  are  more  or  less  controlled  by  the  circumstances  that 
surround  us. 

Take  his  Emancipation  Proclamation,  for  example.  It  would  be  im 
possible  for  me  to  say  that  I  think  he  had  a  right  to  issue  such  a  docu 
ment  ;  he  certainly  had  not,  according  to  his  own  oft-repeated  declara 
tions  before  the  war.  And  if  he  had  no  such  power  then,  I  do  not  see 
from  what  source  he  has  derived  the  power  since  the  war,  especially  in 
regard  to  the  property  of  those  citizens  who  have  forfeited  none  of  their 
rights  under  the  Constitution ;  the  argument  is,  that  it  is  a  military  right 
growing  out  of  the  rebellion.  If  that  be  so,  I  must  think  it  a  very  dan 
gerous  right,  as  I  do  not  perceive  any  limit  to  its  exercise,  which  depends 
solely  on  the  will  of  the  person  who  may  happen  to  control  the  military 
power  at  the  moment ;  and  it  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  a  vagrant,  rambling, 


312  APPENDIX. 

unsettled,  and  unfixed  power,  that  would  be  very  differently  exercised 
by  different  persons  that  might  be  in  a  position  to  execute  the  power. 
One  might  limit  it  to  personal  property  only ;  another  to  slaves  that  are 
of  a  mixed  character,  being  both  persons  and  property ;  another  might 
extend  it  to  real  estate  for  life ;  another  to  real  estate  in  fee ;  another  to 
imprisonment,  or  imprisonment  and  fine ;  and  another,  still,  to  life  itself. 
I  confess  I  do  not  like  these  unwritten,  unknown,  and  undefined  laws, 
dependent  alone  on  the  arbitrary  will  of  whomsoever  might  happen  to  fill 
the  presidential  chair  for  the  moment,  and  who  might  be  either  a  Wash 
ington  or  a  Nero.  And  it  is  quite  clear  to  my  mind,  that  this  power  of 
confiscation  was  not  intended  by  the  framers  of  our  government  to  be 
lodged  in  the  hands  of  Congress  and  of  the  President  at  the  same  time, 
or  that  the  power  was  to  be  divided.  Now  if  Congress  can  confiscate  the 
real  estate  of  one  in  rebellion  against  his  government,  of  which  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  I  think  it  clear  they  could  also  confiscate  the  slave  property 
of  the  same  party  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  to  follow  that,  if  the  President  can 
confiscate  the  slave  property,  he  could,  with  equal  propriety,  confiscate  the 
real  estate.  Yet  we  see  the  one  power  exercised  by  Congress,  which  is  a 
denial  of  the  power  on  the  part  of  the  President ;  while  the  other  power 
is  exercised  by  the  President,  which  is  a  denial  of  the  power  of  Congress ; 
unless  we  can  believe  that  it  was  designed  to  give  the  same  powers  and 
functions  to  each,  which  would  be  an  anomaly  in  government  that  would 
reflect  very  little  credit  on  the  authors  of  our  system.  In  other  words,  I 
think  if  it  required  an  act  of  Congress  to  confiscate  one  species  of  prop 
erty,  to  wit,  real  estate,  it  necessarily  required  the  same  authority  to  con 
fiscate  any  other  species  of  property. 

But  conceding  that  there  was  a  military  right,  and  a  moral  propriety  in 
seizing  upon  and  emancipating  by  proclamation  the  slave  property  of  those 
in  rebellion  against  the  government,  who  had  forfeited  all  claims  to  the 
protection  of  the  Constitution,  for  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  think  a  man 
may  take  a  sword  in  his  right  hand  and  the  Constitution  in  his  left,  and, 
after  a  vain  effort  to  strike  down  the  Constitution,  thrust  his  left  hand 
forward  and  claim  the  protection  of  the  instrument  he  has  renounced  and 
endeavored  to  destroy ;  but,  I  say,  conceding  that  there  is  a  military  right 
on  the  part  of  the  President  by  proclamation  to  emancipate  or  confiscate 
(for,  practically,  it  means  the  same  thing)  the  slave  property  of  one  in  re 
bellion  against  the  government,  and  who  has  thus  forfeited  all  right  to  the 
protection  of  the  Constitution,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  right  exists  to 
take  the  slave  or  other  property  of  the  loyal  citizen,  who  had  forfeited  none 


APPENDIX.  313 

of  his  rights,  and  who  stands  exactly  where  and  as  he  stood  before  the 
war.  Congress,  for  example,  does  not  claim  the  right  to  confiscate  the 
real  estate  of  loyal  citizens,  for  confiscation  only  applies  to  traitors  ;  how, 
then,  could  Congress,  or  rather  the  law-making  power,  which  includes  the 
President,  confiscate  the  personal  property  of  the  loyal  citizen  ?  and  if 
this  could  not  be  done  by  the  President  and  Congress  combined,  how  could 
it  be  done  by  the  President  alone  ?  In  one  word,  if  the  President  had  a 
right  to  take  my  slaves  from  me  because  Jeff.  Davis  and  Co.  had  rebelled 
against  the  authorities  of  the  United  States,  while  to  the  full  extent  of  my 
power  and  capacity  I  had  resisted  such  rebellion,  I  do  not  see  why  he 
might  not  also  take  my  lands  and  other  property  because  General  Lee  and 
Co.  had  forfeited  theirs.  To  my  mind,  therefore,  it  is  clear  that  the  con 
fiscation  of  slaves  should  have  been  confined  to  those  who  were  in  actual 
rebellion  against  the  government,  and  to  those  who,  in  the  language  of 
the  Constitution,  had  given  them  aid  and  comfort,  and  that  this  confiscation 
of  slave  property  should  have  been  embraced  in  the  act  of  confiscation, 
and  not  have  been  effected  by  a  simple  proclamation  of  the  President. 
Nor  do  I  perceive  how  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  forbids  the 
seizure  of  private  property  for  public  uses  without  just  compensation  is  to 
be  gotten  over,  as  far  as  loyal  persons  are  concerned. 

But  waiving  the  question  of  right  on  the  part  of  the  President  to  con 
fiscate  by  proclamation,  I  must  think  that  a  very  badly  constructed  instru 
ment  which,  by  its  terms,  protected  the  property  of  Henry  A.  Wise,  who 
has  been  for  the  last  twelve  years  stirring  up  rebellion,  and  for  the  last* 
three  in  open  arms  against  the  authorities  of  the  United  States,  because 
he  happened  to  live  in  the  county  of  Princess  Anne,  which  at  that  time 
was  within  Federal  jurisdiction,  and  at  the  same  time  in  terms  confisca 
ted  the  property  of  John  M.  Botts,  a  loyal  citizen,  because  he  happened  to 
live  in  the  county  of  Henrico  (or  Culpepper,  to  which  I  have  since  re 
moved),  which  at  that  time  was  within  the  Confederate  lines,  but  which 
is  now  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Federal  government.  I  think, 
therefore,  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  question  of  property  should  have  rest 
ed  upon  the  loyalty  of  the  citizen  rather  than  upon  his  local  habitation  at 
the  time. 

Now  I  do  not  want  to  be  misunderstood.  Under  this  proclamation  I 
have  lost  a  good  many  of  my  most  valuable  servants,  it  is  true,  but  I  have 
never  been  one  of  those  who  estimated  the  value  of  the  Union  and  insti 
tutions  of  our  fathers  (upon  the  preservation  of  which  I  religiously  be 
lieve  the  happiness,  welfare,  and  liberties  of  the  people  South  as  well  as 

o 


314  APPENDIX. 

North  depend)  by  dollars  and  cents,  nor  yet  by  the  bondage  of  the  Afri 
can  race.  And  if  the  question  between  the  life  of  the  nation  and  the  de 
struction  of  slavery  has  arisen,  without  one  moment's  hesitation  I  say,  Let 
the  Nation  live,  and  let  slavery  perish ;  and  if  the  balance  of  any  slaves, 
landed  property,  and  all  should  be  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the 
institutions  of  the  country  in  all  their  integrity,  all  I  have  to  say  is,  In  the 
name  of  God,  let  it  go ;  though  I  confess  I  should  have  preferred  a  volun 
tary  relinquishment  of  it  myself  to  its  forcible  seizure  by  the  government. 

Nor  am  I  one  of  those  who  confound  cause  with  effect.  If  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  issued  this  proclamation,  and  it  had  been  enforced  before  the  war, 
then  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  I  would  probably  have  been  found  in 
the  midst  of  this  revolution,  because  it  would  have  constituted  good  ground 
for  resistance,  but  instead  of  its  having  been  the  cause,  it  is  simply  the 
effect  of  the  war.  It  is  the  consequence  growing  out  of  the  most  accursed, 
the  most  flagitious,  the  most  stupendous,  and  the  most  atrocious  crime 
that  in  my  opinion  has  been  committed  since  the  day  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  crucified  ;  and,  being  the  consequence  of  secession,  I  charge  the  loss 
of  my  property  to  the  secessionists,  who  are  wholly  and  solely  responsible 
for  the  war,  and  who  created  the  necessity,  if  such  necessity  existed  ;  and 
although  I  can  not  see  the  subject  in  that  light,  yet  at  such  a  crisis  as  this 
I  will  not  quarrel  about  property  until  rny  own  liberties  and  the  liberties 
of  the  people  are  restored  to  that  condition  of  security  which  we  enjoyed 
before  the  rebellion. 

By  Divine  law  we  are  all,  the  good  and  the  bad  alike,  made  responsible 
for  the  original  sin  of  that  venerable  old  lady  known  as  Madame  Eve ;  and 
I  do  not  know  that  it* is  any  harder  upon  me  that  I  should  lose  my  prop 
erty  on  account  of  the  original  sin  of  those  with  whom  it  has  been  my  for 
tune  to  be  mixed  up  geographically,  than  it  is  that  I  should  be  damned 
unless  I  make  atonement  for  the  original  sin  of  that  good  woman  for  eat 
ing  an  apple  six  thousand  years  ago  that  I  never  saw,  and  do  not  know 
certainly  if  it  ever  grew,  and,  therefore,  I  shall  make  no  factious  opposi 
tion  or  quarrel  with  Mr.  Lincoln  about  it — at  all  events,  not  just  now. 
The  best  vindication  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  individual  law  at  last  may  be,  that 
it  rests  upon  precisely  the  same  principle  as  does  the  most  important  of 
all  Divine  laws. 

As  to  Garrison,  Parker,  Beecher,  Wendell  Philips  (who,  by  the  way,  is 
not  only  a  mischievous  but  dangerous  fanatic,  as  his  ravings  about  divid 
ing  the  lands  of  the  South  among  the  army  and  the  negroes  has  no  other 
effect  than  to  furnish  the  Southern  demagogues  with  material  for  keep- 


APPENDIX.  315 

ing  up  a  frenzied  excitement  against  the  North),  and  all  that  class  of  ex 
treme  or  radical  men,  they  may  properly  be  termed  the  theoretical  Abo 
litionists  of  the  country ;  while  Jeff.  Davis,  William  L.  Yancey,  Bob 
Toombs,  Frank  Pickens,  Henry  A.  Wise,  James  M.  Mason,  Bob  Hunter, 
James  A.  Seddon,  John  Slidell,  and  company,  the  great  architects  of  mis 
chief  and  ruin,  have  been  the  practical  Abolitionists,  who  have  done  more  in 
three  years  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  than  the  theoretical  Abolitionists 
could  have  done  in  three  thousand ;  and  it  is  to  them,  and  to  their  inex 
cusable  and  blundering  stupidity  and  folly,  against  which  I  have  been 
warring  for  thirty  years,  that  I  charge  whatever  I  and  others  may  have 
lost  in  slave  property.  Did  Heaven  in  its  wrath  ever  raise  up  such  a  set 
to  delude,  cheat,  and  destroy  a  sensible  people  before  in  the  history  of  the 
world  ?  Has  there  been  one  promise  or  prophecy  made  to  the  people  be 
fore  the  war  that  has  been  fulfilled  since  the  war,  or  that  is  likely  to  be 
fulfilled  hereafter?  Yes,  there  is  one  ;  and  that  was  the  prediction  of  Bob 
Toombs,  who  foretold  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  "that  the  day 
was  not  distant  when  he  would  be  able  to  call  the  roll  of  his  slaves  at  the 
foot  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument."  Verily,  he  blundered  upon  the  truth, 
provided  he  can  get  Mr.  Lincoln  to  collect  them  together,  and  then  grant 
him  permission  to  go  to  Bunker  Hill  Monument  for  the  purpose  of  calling 
the  roll ;  from  present  indications,  it  is  certain  they  will  be  more  conven 
ient  to  that  point  than  they  will  be  to  his  cotton  estates  in  Georgia. 

One  word  more  upon  the  subject  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
and  I  drop  it.  The  emancipation  of  the  slaves  is,  as  it  appears  to  me, 
but  the  beginning  of  the  end ;  the  solution  of  the  difficulty  is  yet  to  come, 
and,  I  confess,  it  is  far  beyond  my  capacity  to  work  out  a  satisfactory  re 
sult.  What  is  to  become  of  the  four  millions  of  slaves  that  are  to  be  set 
free  on  this  continent  after  the  Avar  is  over?  Will  they  be  permitted  to 
spread  themselves  over  the  now  free  states,  and  bring  their  labor  in  com 
petition  with  the  free  white  labor  of  the  country,  and  yet  live  in  safety 
and  peace?  I  do  not  believe  it.  Will  they  be  permitted  to  remain  in 
the  Southern  States  in  a  state  of  freedom  after  those  states  shall  have  re 
sumed  their  legislative  rights  as  states  in  the  Union  ?  No  man  who 
knows  any  thing  of  the  wild  spirit  and  temper  of  the  Southern  Democra 
cy  can  dream  of  it  ?  Can  they  be  colonized  in  such  numbers  and  sent 
out  of  the  country  ?  It  will  be  a  most  gigantic  undertaking,  and  one  that 
is  not  likely  to  be  realized  in  any  remarkable  time ;  and  if  it  could  be 
done  eventually,  what  is  to  be  their  condition  until  it  is  done?  Between 
you  and  myself,  I  venture  to  predict  that  the  day  will  come  when  the  lar- 


316  APPENDIX. 

ger  portion  of  them  will  wish  a  thousand  times  over  to  be  restored  to 
their  former  condition.  I  do  not  say  this  in  any  political  sense.  I  am 
not  giving  expression  to  my  feelings,  but  to  my  judgment.  A«  Mr.  Wil- 
loughby  Newton  would  say,  "  These  are  the  reflections  and  deductions  of  a 
retired  political  philosopher ;"  but  as  his  predictions  were  so  far  from  ful 
fillment,  so  may  mine  be  also ;  but  I  think  not.  According  to  his  philoso 
phy,  Norfolk  was  at  once,  upon  secession,  to  become  the  great  emporium 
of  a  Southern  empire,  and  Virginia  would  become  the  most  powerful 
state  in  the  world,  and  in  twelve  months  her  whole  fortunes  would  be 
revolutionized.  Well,  I  can  not,  in  justice  to  Mr.  Newton,  deny  this  lat 
ter  conclusion,  but  it  is  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  Mr.  Toombs's  pre 
diction  about  his  slaves;  this  "retired  philosopher"  also  predicted  that 
the  idea  of  a  civil  war,  upon  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  was  a  "chimera," 
but  if  there  should  be,  that  twelve  intrepid  Virginians  would  put  it  down. 
And  it  was  such  puerile  nonsense  as  this  that  was  listened  to  with  admi 
ration  by  a  convention  of  bearded  Democrats,  and  it  was  such  arguments 
as  these  that  carried  Virginia  out  of  the  Union,  as  far  as  they  could  carry 
it,  and  brought  such  untold  and  unnumbered  calamities  on  her  people. 

I  have  seen  a  great  deal  too,  in  ths  management  of  the  war,  that  I  do 
not  approve,  the  proper  solution  of  which  I  am  not  sure  I  did  not  see  this 
very  night  in  a  speech  delivered  by  a  "  Miss  Dickinson"  in  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  in  which  she  stated,  in  the  presence  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  out  of  some  two  hundred  and 
twenty  odd  officers  appointed  to  the  army,  two  hundred  and  seven  of  them 
were  from  the  Democratic  party.  If  this  were  so,  no  doubt  a  large  num 
ber  of  them  were  of  the  Copperhead  school,  and  that  would  account  for  a 
great  deal  that  has  occurred;  but  before  I  saw  that  statement  I  did  not 
attribute  the  mismanagement  so  much  to  Mr.  Lincoln  as  I  did  to  others. 
You  have  had,  in  my  judgment,  a  mistaken  policy  controlling  the  legisla 
tion  of  Congress,  especially  in  retaining  that  feature  in  the  Enrolment  Act 
which  authorizes  the  substitution  of  money  for  men,  when  it  is  men  and 
not  money  that  is  required  for  closing  up  the  war,  which  has  already 
lasted  much  longer  than  it  should  have  done. 

There  is  another  matter  about  which  I  think  Mr.  Lincoln  has  made  two 
great  mistakes,  and  those  are  to  be  found  in  his  recent  Amnesty  Proclama 
tion.  First,  he  has  set  no  limit  to  the  time  within  which  one  in  arms 
against  the  government  may  come  in  and  claim  the  benefit  of  its  pro 
visions.  As  it  stands  now,  they  may  continue  in  arms  for  one,  two,  three, 
or  five  years,  if  the  war  should  last  so  long,  and  then,  when  at  last  over- 


APPENDIX.  317 

powered,  they  may  claim  the  benefit  of  the  pardon.  Secondly,  I  regret 
that  those  desiring  to  avail  themselves  of  its  benefits  should  have  been 
required  to  swear  to  support  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  simply  be 
cause  it  can  do  no  good,  and  will  do  harm ;  for  whenever  a  man  comes  in 
to  claim  the  benefit  of  the  amnesty,  and  means  to  support  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  he  would  mean  to  take  the  govern 
ment  as  he  found  it,  and  would  never  think  of  offering  resistance  to  the 
proclamation,  while  as  it  is,  it  furnishes  a  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the 
leaders  to  excite  the  prejudices  of  the  ignorant ;  and  where  one  will  come 
in  under  the  proclamation  as  it  is,  three  or,  perhaps,  five  would  have  come 
if  that  portion  of  the  oath  had  been  left  out ;  however,  this  is  mere  matter 
of  opinion,  but  one  in  which  I  think  I  can  not  be  mistaken. 

Now,  then,  you  have  my  opinion  upon  some  of  the  main  features  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  character  and  administration,  and,  upon  the  whole,  I  conclude 
that,  in  the  language  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  Mr.  Lincoln  "has 
done  those  things  that  he  ought  not  to  have  done,  and  has  left  undone 
those  things  that  he  ought  to  have  done ;"  yet  that  he  is  honest,  patriotic, 
and  indefatigable  in  what  he  conceives  to  be  his  duties,  and  in  his  efforts 
to  bring  the  war  to  a  speedy  and  successful  issue ;  that  he  is  entitled  to 
the  gratitude  of  the  people  of  the  North,  and  has  established  strong  claims 
upon  their  confidence  and  support ;  and  I  think  I  hazard  nothing  in  say 
ing  that  if  I  had  a  vote  it  should  be  given  to  Mr.  Lincoln  in  preference  to 
any  man  that  is  likely  to  be  brought  out  against  him.  And  as  for  a  Cop- 
perheaded  Democrat,  I  would  as  soon  think  of  voting  for  the  bones  of  old 
John  Brown,  as  they  lay  mouldering  in  the  grave,  as  for  one  of  those  men 
whose  primary  object  it  is  to  restore  to  power  that  party  which  is  respons 
ible  for  all  our  troubles,  as  a  condition  for  a  restoration  of  the  Union ; 
and  upon  my  soul,  I  religiously  believe  that  if  such  a  thing  were  probable 
as  that  the  South  could  detach  herself  from  the  Union,  having  the  North 
for  a  hostile  neighbor,  as  they  assuredly  would,  that  the  South  would 
present  a  scene  of  impoverished,  helpless  misery,  for  which  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  parallel  in  any  quarter  of  the  globe  where  civilization 
exists,  and  that  the  country  would  become  depopulated  and  abandoned. 
In  five  years  there  would  be  another  exodus  such  as  we  read  of  in  the 
Book  of  Books. 

I  have  prepared  for  the  press  a  history  of  this  war  for  thirty  years  be 
fore  it  broke  out,  which  I  think,  as  the  few  friends  who  have  seen  it  all 
think,  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  interesting  documents  that  has  ap 
peared  in  our  history.  There  is  one  thing  that  attaches  peculiar  value 


318  APPENDIX. 

and  interest  to  it,  and  that  is,  that  there  is  no  other  person  in  the  country 
that  could  write  it  who  would  write  it.  No  Northern  man  knows  what  my 
political  and  social  intercourse  with  Southern  Democracy,  and  all  the  po 
litical  events  of  the  last  thirty-five  years  in  which  I  have  taken  an  active 
part  enables  me  to  know.  No  man,  I  think,  has  kept  a  more  complete  rec 
ord  of  events  during  that  period  than  I  have  done;  and  there  is  no  South 
ern  Democrat  who  knows  all  that  I  know  of  their  purposes  and  designs 
that  would  not,  if  he  could,  cover  up  and  cancel  what  it  is  my  desire  and 
purpose  to  lay  before  the  world.  It  has  been  ready  since  the  fall  of  1861, 
at  which  time  it  was  written,  but  it  can  not  be  published,  under  the  cir 
cumstances  that  surround  me.  I  wait  for  a  more  propitious  season ;  but 
if  it  ever  sees  the  light,  as  I  hope  it  will,  it  will  startle  those  who  have 
been  duped  and  swindled  as  never  were  people  duped  and  swindled  be 
fore  in  any  age  or  country ;  for  then  it  will'be  seen  that  slavery  had  noth 
ing  to  do  with  this  war  farther  than  that  from  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
the  "  twenty-first  rule, "  at  the  instigation  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  it  has  been  used 
as  an  instrument  and  a  lever  for  the  accomplishment  of  another  purpose, 
which  was  the  perpetuation  of  their  own  power  under  a  Southern  Confed 
eracy  whenever  they  found  they  could  not  retain  it  under  the  Federal 
government ;  but  neither  the  extension  of  slavery,  nor  rights  in  the  terri 
tories,  nor  fugitive  slave  laws,  nor  security  of  the  property  nor  the  inter 
ests  of  slavery  were  in  any  other  sense  involved  in  this  controvery. 

2d.  It  will  be  seen  that  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion 
it  was  no  part  of  the  purpose  of  the  leaders  to  dissolve  the  Union,  or  to 
strike  for  separation  and  Southern  independence.  So  extensive  had  been 
their  plan  of  operations  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  not 
only  with  the  great  body  of  leading  Democrats  in  the  North,  who  were 
pledged  to  come  to  their  assistance,  sustained  as  they  were  by  the  Secre 
taries  of  the  Treasury,  War,  Navy,  and  Interior  Departments,  with  a  large 
number  of  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  that  they  struck  for  higher 
game  ;  and  the  purpose  was  to  seize  upon  the  capital  of  the  nation,  take 
possession  of  the  archives  of  the  government,  get  control  of  the  treasury, 
army,  navy,  etc.,  and,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  President  Davis,  to  "make 
the  North  smell  Southern  powder  and  feel  Southern  steel,"  and  in  the  lan 
guage  of  Mr.  Secretary  Walker,  on  the  night  of  the  fall  of  Sumter,  to 
"float  the  flag  of  the  Confederate  government  from  the  Capitol  in  Washing 
ton  in  thirty  days ;"  and  the  watchword  was  to  have  been,  in  the  language 
of  Mr.  Vice-president  Stephens,  "  On  to  Washington!'1  "  On  to  Washing 
ton!"  "On  to  Washington  /"  and  of  this  plan  of  operations  I  myself  in- 


APPENDIX.  319 

formed  Mr.  Lincoln  about  the  8th  or  10th  of  April,  1SGI ;  and  this  not  only 
was  to  have  been,  but  would  have  been  the  programme,  but  for  the  impet 
uosity  of  the  leaders  in  the  Virginia  Convention,  who  through  their  agent, 
Mr.  Roger  A.  Pryor,  urged  an  immediate  assault  upon  Fort  Sumter, 
with  the  assurance  that  upon  the  firing  of  the  first  gun  Virginia  would  go 
out.  Before  this  assurance  they  acted  ;  but  it  so  startled  and  excited  the 
North  that  the  leaders  in  that  locality  were  paralyzed,  and  dared  not 
come  up  to  the  work  to  which  they  were  committed ;  and  thus  was  the 
war,  which  was  originally  designed  to  be  carried  on  in  the  Northern 
States  alone,  transferred  to  the  hearth-stones  of  those  who  had  kindled 
the  conflagration  ;  and  if  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclamation  of  the  15th  of  April, 
1861,  had  been  postponed  for  three  days,  a  rebellion  against  the  Virginia 
Convention  and  the  authorities  of  the  state  would  have  commenced  in 
Richmond  ;  but  then  the  proclamation  came  just  in  the  nick  of  time  to  af 
ford  the  Union  men  in  the  Convention,  who  had  already  become  thorough 
ly  intimidated  by  the  outside  pressure  of  the  mob — a  pretext  for  passing 
the  Ordinance  of  Secession.  Oh,  the  history  of  this  whole  affair  is  rich 
and  startling  from  beginning  to  end ! 

I  see  quite  a  struggle  is  going  on  in  Washington  and  through  the  pub 
lic  press  as  to  the  status  the  states  are  to  occupy  after  the  war  is  over ; 
some  contending  that  they  must  be  held  as  territories,  and  that  by  the 
rebellion  of  the  leaders  and  public  authorities  they  have  lost  their  charac 
ter  as  states,  and  this  it  is  proposed  should  be  declared  by  law.  We  all 
know  how  territories  may  by  law  be  converted  into  states,  but  the  process 
of  converting  bylaw  a  state  into  a  territory  is  a  new  problem  that  I  confess 
I  do  not  comprehend.  I  can  understand  how  it  is  if  John  Letcher  and 
Billy  Smith  (late  and  present  governor),  or  the  members  of  the  Conven 
tion,  with  Congress  and  the  State  Legislature,  all  turn  traitors,  that  they 
incur  the  forfeiture  and  penalties  of  treason,  and  thus  alienate  themselves 
from  the  government  of  the  United  States,  but  how  they  can  by  a  viola 
tion  of  the  law  and  the  Constitution  annihilate  the  existence  of  the  state, 
and  force  the  loyal  men  of  the  state  out  of  the  Union,  I  do  not  under 
stand,  nor  can  it,  to  my  comprehension,  be  established,  otherwise  than  by  a 
recognition  of  the  right  of  secession  in  its  broadest  sense.  If  Virginia  is 
not  now  a  member  of  the  Union,  when  and  how  did  she  cease  to  be  so  ?  The 
answer  must  be,  on  the  17th  of  April,  18G1,  and  by  the  Ordinance  of  Se 
cession  ;  then  if  it  is  acknowledged  that  she  was  no  longer  in  the  Union, 
it  must  be  conceded  that  she  had  a  right  to  go  out.  And  it  necessarily 
follows  that  there  was  no  right  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  government  to 


320  APPENDIX. 

enforce  the  laws  in  a  state  that  did  not  form  a  part  of  the  Union,  and  it 
would  also  follow  that  if  the  existence  of  the  state  was  annihilated  by  an 
ordinance  of  secession  passed  by  a  convention  representing  a  minority  of 
the  people,  as  was  the  case  in  this  state,  then  it  would  not  have  been  com 
petent  or  legitimate  for  the  people  constituting  a  majority  of  the  state  to 
have  called  another  convention,  and  to  have  repudiated  the  action  of  the 
first. 

But,  again,  if  Virginia  ceased  on  the  17th  of  April,  1SG1,  to  be  a  state 
in  the  Union,  then  the  citizens  of  the  state  ceased  to  owe  allegiance  to  a 
government  of  which  they  did  not  constitute  a  part,  how,  then,  could  any 
citizen  be  convicted  of  treason  that  has  since  taken  up  arms  against  the 
United  States?  And  what  becomes  of  the  Act  of  Confiscation?  If  the 
state  is  no  longer  in  the  Union,  then  this  is  a  foreign  and  not  a  civil  war, 
and  there  can  be  no  confiscation  of  property,  for  confiscation  applies  only 
to  traitors,  and  there  can  be  no  traitors  and  no  confiscation  where  there 
can  be  no  conviction  for  treason. 

I  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  revolted  or  rebellious  states  are  still  states 
in  the  Union,  and  are  only  struggling  to  get  out,  in  accordance  with  the 
declaration  that  they  would  not  remain  in,  and  that  they  can  not  be  out 
until  they  succeed  in  establishing  by  arms  what  they  have  declared  upon 
paper. 

Such  arguments  and  deductions  as  those  of  Mr.  Sumner  and  others  are 
derived  from  the  passions  and  not  the  judgments  of  those  who  use  them ; 
they  involve  the  most  important  principles,  and  cover  grounds  that  should 
be  well  and  maturely  considered  before  they  are  adopted. 

I  am  very  truly  yours,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

THE   GILMER    LETTER. 

On  the  12th  of  February,  1865,  I  received  a  letter  from  Hon.  John  A. 
Gilmer,  then  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Congress  from  North  Carolina, 
appealing  to  me  in  behalf  of  a  number  of  the  members  of  Congress  to  repair 
to  Washington  and  endeavor  to  effect  terms  of  peace  on  a  basis  suggested 
in  his  letter,  to  which  I  made  the  following  reply : 

Culpepper  County,  February  13, 1SC5. 
Hon.  JOHN  A.  GILMER: 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Owing  to  the  snow-storm  of  the  7th,  all  mail  com 
munication  with  this  county  has  been  suspended  until  within  the  last  two 
days,  consequently  your  letter  of  the  6th  did  not  reach  me  until  yesterday. 
I  have  given  due  attention  to  your  several  suggestions  touching  my  go- 


APPENDIX.  321 

ing  to  Washington,  your  basis  of  terms  for  putting  an  end  to  the  war, 
etc.,  and,  with  all  due  respect,  I  proceed  to  give  you  my  views  upon  them, 
and  to  point  out  some  of  the  obstacles'in  the  way  of  their  accomplishment 
that  it  seems  to  me  must  loom  up  with  transparent  light  to  every  impartial 
and  unprejudiced  eye. 

With  respect  to  my  going  to  Washington,  it  is  only  necessary  to  say, 
first,  that  I  have  no  means  of  getting  there,  and  secondly,  that  I  have  no 
authority  or  pass  to  go.  But  if  I  were  to  go,  it  could  accomplish  no  good; 
first,  because  I  could  not  recommend  your  plan  of  adjustment,  looking  to 
a  separation  of  the  South  from  the  North,  when  there  is  not  and  never 
has  been  a  shade  of  doubt  resting  on  my  mind  that  the  very  worst  con 
dition  of  things  that  could  befall  the  South,  and  more  especially  the  Bor 
der  States  of  the  South,  would  be  a  separation,  with  the  North  as  a  hostile 
neighbor,  as  she  assuredly  would  be,  which  would  lead  to  constant  and 
never-ending  warfare,  and  the  necessity  for  regular  standing  armies, 
which,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the  experience  of  the  past,  would  be  quite 
as  destructive  as  the  armies  of  the  North.  Calamitous  and  ruinous  as 
this  war  has  been,  from  my  inmost  soul  I  believe  a  separation  from  the 
North,  with  two  peoples  so  immediately  contiguous  to  each  other,  and  with 
the  bitterness  of  feeling  that  would  be  perpetuated  under  separate  organ 
izations,  would  prove  to  be  even  more  ruinous  and  deplorable  than  the  war 
itself  has  been,  and  that  has  left  the  Southern  country  little  else  than  a 
general  grave-yard  or  a  desolate  waste. 

But  if  I  could  entertain  other  views  upon  this  subject,  and  adopt  those 
presented  in  your  letter,  I  have  no  idea  that  they  would  receive  a,  respect 
ful  consideration  either  from  the  administration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  or  any 
portion  of  the  people  of  the  North,  the  whole  mass  of  whom  have  become 
Abolitionizcd  by  the  events  of  this  war.  Rely  upon  it,  Mr.  Gilmer,  there 
is  no  peace  party  in  the  North  that  has  ever  lent  a  serious  ear  to  the  idea 
of  separation ;  and  all  appearance  to  the  contrary  during  the  last  year 
was  nothing  but  a  piece  of  political  jugglery,  adopted  with  the  hope  of 
restoring  the  Democracy  to  power.  Whatever  else  may  be  done,  there 
are  two  things  that  the  North  can  never  afford  to  do.  The  first  is,  to  rec 
ognize  secession  and  disunion,  under  any  disguise ;  and  the  other  is,  to 
repudiate  its  public  debt.  No,  sir ;  from  the  moment  that  our  once  glo 
rious  old  Union  Whig  party  "refuyeed,"  and  kicked  from  under  it  the 
platform  of  its  own  erection,  as  a  guide  for  presidential  incumbents,  to 
wit,  "The  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  ENFORCEMENT  or  THE  LAWS," 
it  was  taken  up  as  something  worthy  of  preservation,  and  adopted  with 

02 


322  APPENDIX. 

entire  unanimity  by  all  parties  in  the  North,  with  a  determination  to 
maintain  it  in  better  faith  than  did  those  who  first  adopted  it  and  then 
spat  upon  it  at  the  dictation  of  the  Corrupt  and  profligate  Democracy,  who 
gave  us  timely  notice  that  we  should  be  hitched  on  and  dragged  in  to  the 
feast  of  ruin  they  were  preparing  for  all  in  common ;  and  so  strong  and 
universal  has  this  sentiment  of  the  Union  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws 
become  throughout  the  North,  that  you  may  rest  assured  that  if  Mr.  Lin 
coln  were  to  entertain  the  proposition  for  a  moment  of  recognizing  a  for 
eign  government  that  would  run  up  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  and 
within  a  mile  of  their  capital,  he  would  run  great  risk  of  being  torn  to 
pieces  alive  by  men  of  all  parties  in  the  North.  I  speak  of  these  things 
as  facts,  as  I  know  them  to  exist. 

I  do  not  know  what  value  may  be  attached  to  my  opinions  now,  but 
certain  it  is  that  I  have  had  no  desire  to  obtrude  them  upon  any  one  since 
this  war  broke  out ;  for  on  more  occasions  than  one,  when  they  would 
have  been  of  service  to  those  with  whom  my  own  interests  and  happiness 
were  entirely  identified,  they  were  repudiated  and  denounced.  But  your 
letter  invites  it,  and  I  proceed  to  say : 

From  the  day  of  the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  if  not  from  the  time  of 
the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  I  have  regarded  all  compromises  at  an 
end ;  and  that  when  the  minority  in  the  South  madly  broke  up  old  com 
promises  and  repudiated  all  new  ones,  and  thus  brought  up  the  issue, 
whether  the  absolute  control  of  the  government  should  be  exercised  by 
the  minority  or  majority,  that  the  fate  of  the  South  was  sealed ;  and  I 
said  so  at  the  time,  unless  the  people  would  discard  their  treacherous 
leaders  and  return  to  that  spirit  of  conciliation  which  had  controlled  their 
fathers  in  the  formation  of  the  government.  And  as  this  has  not  been 
done,  I  have  looked  upon  all  attempts  at  negotiation  as  a  useless  con 
sumption  of  time.  I  have,  therefore,  been  satisfied  from  the  first  that 
there  could  be  no  peace  but  a  conquered  peace ;  that  there  could  be  no  ne 
gotiations  but  at  the  cannon's  mouth ;  and  that  the  only  negotiators  that 
could  be  recognized  were  those  already  appointed  by  their  respective  gov 
ernments,  General  Grant  and  General  Lee,  and  to  their  ultimate  arbitra 
ment  all  would  be  compelled  to  submit  at  last.  How  it  is  likely  the  mat 
ter  will  be  adjusted  under  their  negotiations,  your  means  of  information 
are  at  least  as  good  as  mine,  though  possibly  we  may  draw  different  con 
clusions  from  the  present  and  the  past.  Any  other  peace  than  such  as  I 
have  described  would  be  a  delusion  and  a  cheat,  which  would  not  last 
much  longer  than  it  would  take  to  make  it. 


APPENDIX.  323 

My  opinions  of  the  result  of  this  war  were  formed  long — very  long  be 
fore  it  commenced— and  have  been  often  laid  before  the  public  in  a  voice 
of  warning  to  avoid  it,  but  they  were  of  no  avail ;  but  those  opinions  have 
never,  under  any  success  or  defeat  of  either  party,  varied  or  wavered  for 
a  single  moment,  and  I  have  never  doubted  that  the  terms  now  offered, 
of  absolute  and,  unconditional  recognition  of  the  authority  of  the  Federal 
government,  and  of  the  supremacy  of  its  laws,  could  alone  lead  to  peace ; 
and  it  appears  to  me  that  the  only  question  to  be  determined  is,  whether 
they  should  be  accepted  at  once,  or  postponed  until  they  are  forced  upon 
you  by  still  farther  loss  of  life,  sacrifice  of  property,  and  additional  humil 
iation  and  defeat.  As  for  all  this  villainous  trash  in  the  daily  press,  and 
not  unfrequently  to  be  found  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  about  subjugation, 
Northern  masters,  and  Southern  white  slaves,  spoliation  and  distribution  of 
our  lands  among  the  foreigners  and  blacks  in  the  army,  which  may  serve 
to  keep  up  a  war  spirit  and  a  feverish  passion  among  a  few  who  are  de 
luded  by  it ;  and  as  for  all  the  furor  that  certain  officials  may  get  up 
among  their  followers  in  the  city  by  their  public  harangues,  let  me  assure 
you  that  it  has  no  effect  upon  the  country,  whose  substance  has  been  eat 
en  up,  and  whose  patriotism  has  subsided  and  given  way  to  empty  and 
hungry  stomachs.  They  are  for  peace,  and  will  not  stop  to  inquire  into 
terms  whenever  it  is  offered  to  them.  The  people  have  seen  and  know 
that  among  the  leaders  of  this  rebellion  there  has  been,  from  first  to  last, 
nothing  but  miscalculation  upon  miscalculation,  and  blunder  upon  blun 
der,  with  every  promise  and  prediction  falsified,  until  they  have  lost  all 
confidence  in  their  calculations,  promises,  and  predictions,  and  they  see 
too  many  stragglers  that  are  daily  leaving  the  army  with  a  determination 
never  to  be  taken  back  to  it  alive,  not  to  know  something  of  its  absolute 
demoralization  and  disorder. 

Believe  me,  Mr.  Gilmer,  when  I  tell  you  that  the  feeling  of  the  people 
is  that  the  lives  of  their  sons,  brothers,  and  friends  will  be  uselessly  sacri 
ficed  by  a  farther  prosecution  of  this  war ;  and  if  the  Confederate  authori 
ties  do  not  believe  it,  let  it  be  submitted  to  a  fair  and  untrammeled  vote 
of  the  army  and  the  people  to  decide  it. 

If  the  ruling  men  could  see  the  matter  in  this  light,  then,  in  addition  to 
the  blood  that  might  be  saved,  they  would  find  a  strong  incentive  to  an 
early  peace  in  the  fact  that,  by  prompt  action  in  the  Southern  States, 
they  might  yet  defeat  the  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  in  prohibition 
of  slavery.  By  a  general  vote  in  all  the  states,  which  can  not  be  had 
during  the  war,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Florida,-  Geor- 


324  APPENDIX. 

gia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Kentucky  might  be  car 
ried  against  it,  and  thus  defeat  the  measure ;  and  if  it  had  been  made 
last  fall,  and  the  Southern  States  had  been  represented  in  Congress,  two 
thirds  of  the  two  houses  could  not  have  been  obtained  in  its  favor.  So 
far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  I  have  become  quite  indifferent  to  its 
defeat.  Through  the  instrumentality  of  the  secessionists  I  have  lost  all 
my  most  valuable  slaves.  What  remain  to  me  ai*e  a  great  convenience, 
but  dreadfully  expensive,  and  very  worthless,  as  far  as  their  labor  is  con 
cerned. 

As  to  prolonging  the  war  by  arming  the  negroes  to  fight  against  their 
own  race  and  their  own  kindred,  who  come  to  offer  them  immediate  and 
unconditional  freedom,  to  my  mind  it  betrays  a  want  of  insight  into  the 
natural  instincts  of  the  human  heart,  as  well  as  a  degree  of  wild  fanati 
cism  and  insanity  that  has  had  no  parallel  in  modern  times;  even  if  they 
were  willing  to  fight  against  what  they  have  been  taught  to  believe  were 
their  rights  and  interests,  how  will  you  manage  to  feed  t\vo  hundred  thou 
sand  negroes,  with  blockade-running  suspended  and  rail  communication 
with  the  more  Southern  States  cut  off,  as  it  is  sure  to  be,  when  you  can 
barely  make  out  to  feed  your  present  army,  and  then  only  by  reducing 
the  people  to  a  state  of  starvation  ?  If  ever  there  was  an  occasion  when 
the  old  Latin  maxim  of  "  Quern  deus  vult,"  etc.,  could  apply,  I  think  it 
must  be  this.  But  did  you  ever  see  a  witting  negro  worker  with  a  short 
allowance  of  bread?  If  you  have,  your  experience  does  not  accord  with 
mine.  They  can  not  and  will  not  stand  hunger  and  privation  as  the 
white  soldier,  who  lives  half  his  time  on  hope,  and  pride,  and  love  of 
glory ;  and  as  sure  as  the  experiment  is  made,  just  as  sure  will  their  arms 
be  turned  against  you  at  the  first  opportunity  that  offers. 

Moreover,  mark  what  I  tell  you.  If  you  put  negroes  in  the  field  as 
soldiers,  they  must  be  put  on  equality  with  your  white  soldiers,  for  that  is 
the  condition  of  those  they  are  expected  to  meet  in  the  ranks  of  your  op 
ponents  ;  and  this  will  demoralize  the  army  ten  times  more  than  it  is  al 
ready,  and  it  will  afford  a  pretext  to  thousands  and  thousands  who  only 
icant  one  to  quit,  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  desert  to  the  enemy,  or  re 
turn  to  their  homes,  upon  the  plea  that  they  did  not  engage  in  this  war 
to  establish  the  equality  of  the  negro  or  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but 
against  both  ;  and  if  this  had  become  a  government  of  Abolitionists,  it 
could  have  no  claims  upon  them.  Mark  this  well,  I  beg  you. 

And  now,  Mr.  Gilmcr,  let  me  ask  you  to  look  this  question  full  in  the 
face  as  it  really  stands.  It  has  been  said  that  no  man  ever  played  the 


APPENDIX.  325 

game  of  "  solitaire"  that  did  not  cheat  himself;  and  it  appears  to  me  that 
this  game  of  war  is  like  the  game  of  "solitaire,"  at  which  every  body  has 
tried  to  cheat  himself  first,  and  then  cheat  his  neighbors ;  it  is  time  this 
was  done  with,  and  men  looked  at  things  as  they  really  are. 

Four  years  ago  your  Vice-president,  Mr.  Stephens,  said  in  the  Georgia 
Convention,  "When  we  and  our  posterity  shall  see  our  lovely  South  des 
olated  by  the  demon  war,  which  this  act  of  yours  will  inevitably  invite 
and  call  forth,  when  our  green  fields  of  waving  harvest  shall  be  trodden 
down  by  the  murderous  soldiery  and  fiery  car  of  war  sweeping  over  our 
land,  our  temples  of  justice  laid  in  ashes,  all  the  horrors  and  desolation 
of  war  upon  us,  who  but  this  Convention  will  be  held  responsible  for  it? 
And  who  but  him  who  shall  have  given  his  vote  for  this  unwise  and  ill- 
timed  measure,  as  I  honestly  think  and  believe,  shall  be  held  to  strict  ac 
count  for  this  suicidal  act  by  the  present  generation,  and  probably  cursed 
and  execrated  by  posterity  for  all  coming  time  for  the  wide  and  desola 
ting  ruin  that  will  inevitably  follow  this  act  you  now  propose  to  perpetu 
ate  ?  Pause,  I  entreat  you,  and  consider  for  a  moment  what  reasons  you 
can  give  that  will  even  satisfy  yourselves  in  calmer  moments.  What  rea 
sons  can  you  give  to  your  fellow-sufferers  in  the  calamity  it  will  bring 
upon  us  ?  What  reasons  can  you  give  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  just 
ify  it?  They  will  be  the  calm  and  deliberate  judges  in  the  case,  and 
what  cause  or  overt  act  can  you  name  or  point  to  on  which  to  rest  the 
plea  of  justification?  What  right  has  the  North  assailed?  What  inter 
est  of  the  South  has  been  invaded  ?  What  justice  has  been  denied?  And 
what  claim,  founded  in  justice  and  right,  has  been  withheld  ?  Can  either 
of  you  to-day  name  one  governmental  act  of  wrong,  deliberately  and  pur 
posely  done  by  the  government  at  Washington,  of  which  the  South  has  a 
right  to  complain  ?  I  challenge  the  answer. 

"Leaving  out  of  view  for  the  present  the  countless  millions  of  dollars 
you  must  expend  in  a  war  with  the  North ;  with  tens  of  thousands  of 
your  sons  and  brothers  slain  in  battle,  and  offered  up  as  sacrifices  upon 
the  altar  of  your  ambition — and  for  what,  we  ask  again  ?  Is  it  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  American  government,  established  by  our  common  an 
cestry,  cemented  and  built  up  by  their  sweat  and  blood,  and  founded  on 
the  broad  principles  of  right,  justice,  and  humanity  f  And,  as  such,  I  must 
declare  here,  as  I  have  often  done  before,  and  which  has  been  repeated  by 
the  greatest  and  wisest  statesmen  and  patriots  of  this  and  other  lands, 
that  it  is  the  best  and  freest  government,  the  most  equal  in  its  rights, 
the  most  just  in  its  decisions,  the  most  lenient  in  its  measures,  and  the 


326  APPENDIX. 

most  aspiring  in  its  principles  to  elevate  the  race  of  men  that  the  sun  of 
Heaven  ever  shone  upon.  Now  for  you  to  attempt  to  overthrow  such  a 
government  as  this,  under  which  we  have  lived  for  more  than  three  quar 
ters  of  a  century,  in  which  we  have  gained  our  wealth,  our  standing  as  a 
nation,  our  domestic  safety,  while  the  elements  of  peril  are  around  us, 
with  peace  and  tranquillity,  accompanied  with  unbounded  prosperity  and 
rights  unassailed,  is  the  height  of  madness,  folly,  and  wickedness,  to  which 
I  can  neither  lend  my  sanction  nor  my  vote." 

Such  was  the  language,  and  such  the  testimony  of  this  high  official, 
who  was  within  three  weeks  from  that  time,  and  now  is  the  Vice-presi 
dent  of  the  Southern  Confederacy ;  and  it  was  at  such  a  time,  and  under 
such  circumstances  that  the  South  entered  upon  this  war  against  the 
United  States,  then  as  now,  and  now  as  then,  the  richest  and  most  powerful 
nation  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  before  which,  as  your  own  papers  al 
most  daily  assure  us,  both  France  and  England  now  stand  trembling  in 
their  shoes. 

Four  years  ago,  then,  the  South  commenced  this  war  for  the  establish 
ment  of  their  independence,  and  for  four  years  has  it  been  carried  on 
with  alternate  victory  and  defeat ;  but  now,  at  the  expiration  of  these  four 
years,  ask  yourself  the  questions,  first,  What  advances  have  been  made  to 
ward  the  accomplishment  of  the  end  ?  They  have  invaded  your  territory, 
and  you  have  invaded  theirs.  How  many  of  their  states  have  you  taken, 
and  how  many  of  yours  have  they  taken  ?  What  portion  of  their  territo 
ry  do  you  hold,  and  what  portion  of  yours  do  they  hold  ?  How  many  of 
their  native  population  have  you  killed  or  disabled,  and  how  many  of  your 
native  population  have  they  killed  or  disabled  ?  (Some  idea  of  this  may 
be  formed  from  the  fact  that  the  vote  at  the  Presidential  election  last 
fall  was  every  where  larger  than  it  was  in  1860  before  the  war,  and  that 
the  vote  of  the  entire  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  only  some  eighteen  thou 
sand,  showing  that  an  overwhelming  proportion  of  that  army  is  composed 
of  unnaturalizcd  foreigners  and  negroes.)  How  near  a  state  of  exhaus 
tion  are  their  materials  for  war,  and  how  near  are  yours,  when  you  have 
to  rely  upon  arming  the  slaves  to  fight  against  those  who  come  to  set 
them  free? 

Draw  this  contrast,  and  then  ask  yourself  the  one  other  question,  wheth 
er  the  Southern  Confederacy  is  in  a  condition  to  prosecute  this  war  to  a 
successful  issue  with  a  government  whose  resources  are  scarcely  half  de 
veloped,  notwithstanding  what  may  have  been  said  to  the  contrary? 
There  has  not  been,  and  will  not  be  a  real  anxiety  for  an  immediate  peace 


APPENDIX.  327 

at  the  North  until  this  whole  slavery  question  can  be  forever  settled. 
Your  relations  with  the  government  of  the  United  States  at  one  time 
ought  to  enable  you  to  know  what  its  resources  are  when  all  its  energies 
are  put  forth  for  their  development,  which  I  know  (and  for  reasons  that  I 
could  give  you)  have  never  yet  been  exercised.  Now  if,  upon  review  of 
the  actual  situation,  you  can  persuade  yourselves  that  there  is  a  reasona 
ble  prospect  of  ultimate  success,  then  there  may  be  some  justification  for 
a  farther  trial  at  arms  ;  but  if  no  such  reasonable  hope  can  be  indulged, 
then,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  both  wicked  and  criminal  to  prosecute  the  war 
any  farther  at  the  bidding  of  those  men  who  would  sacrifice  what  is  left 
of  the  country  to  take  the  chance  of  saving  themselves. 

You  must  have  observed  one  thing — that  those  men  who  would  adopt 
a  universal  system  of  abolition  have  no  slaves  to  set  free  ;  that  those  who 
would  set  fire  to  the  cities  on  the  approach  of  the  enemy  have  no  houses 
to  burn ;  that  those  who  would  die  in  the  last  ditch,  and  live  on  roots  and 
berries  in  the  mountains,  are  the  men  who  do  not  take  their  places  in  the 
ranks  of  the  army ;  and  those  who  would  take  all  the  cotton,  tobacco,  and 
gold  in  the  country  for  the  use  of  the  government,  have  neither  cotton, 
nor  tobacco,  nor  gold  to  be  taken ;  these  are  not  the  men  who  have  the 
largest  stake  in  the  country,  and  are  not  the  men  who  should  control  it ; 
and,  as  far  as  Congress  is  concerned,  they  pass  their  conscript  laws,  their 
impressment  bills,  and  levy  their  taxes,  when  a  majority  of  that  body  not 
only  have  no  constituencies  upon  whom  their  laws  can  operate,  but  who 
are  not  themselves  subject  to  the  provisions  of  their  own  laws,  even  to 
the  payment  of  a  tax  that  they  unconstitutionally,  fraudulently,  and  im 
pudently  impose  upon  others. 

What  conscript  officers,  what  impressment  agents,  and  what  tax-gath 
erers  have  you  in  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Western  Virginia,  and  other  portions  of  the  South?  And  what  right 
have  a  body  of  refugees,  who  have  neither  constituents  nor  homes  to 
which  they  dare  go,  to  assemble  in  Richmond  and  keep  us  in  an  eternal 
war  to  sa/e  themselves  from  harm  and  find  themselves  a  home  at  the 
public  expense. 

It  is  supposed  that  because  the  people  are  afraid  to  speak  out  that  they 
do  not  grumble  and  complain  of  this,  or  that  it  has  not  weakened  their 
confidence  in  the  authorities  by  which  they  are  oppressed  ?  If  so,  let  me 
assure  you  it  is  a  woeful  mistake. 

I  have  written  to  you  freely,  and  in  a  spirit  of  confidence  and  friend 
ship,  and  marked  it  private,  because  I  have  no  opinions  for  public  use, 


328  APPENDIX. 

which  would  only  subject  me  to  unmeasured  denunciation  and  abuse  by 
those  who  have  every  thing  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  by  a  continuation 
of  the  war ;  but  if  I  were  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  these 
are  the  views  I  would  enlarge  and  enforce,  because  I  know  they  repre 
sent  the  views  and  feelings  of  seven  tenths  of  the  people  of  this  state,  who 
think  the  experiment  of  separate  independence  is  a  failure,  and  has  been 
carried  quite  far  enough,  but  among  whom  are  those  who  would  be  the 
first  to  cry  out  "treason"  until  they  knew  they  were  safe  in  proclaiming 
their  true  and  honest  sentiments — if  there  is  any  honesty  left  in  them. 
I  am  very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

THE   CONGRESSIONAL   TEST-OATH. 

The  oath  required  (by  the  Act  of  18G2)  to  be  administered  to  all  officers 
of  the  Federal  government,  but  which  is  more  generally  known  as  the 
congressional  test-oath,  has  given  rise  to  a  good  deal  of  feeling  in  the 
South,  and  its  constitutionality  has  been  assailed  with  some  bitterness, 
especially  by  those  against  whom  it  operates,  and  who  are  thereby  disap 
pointed  in  their  confident  anticipations  of  being  able  to  slide  out  of  office 
in  one  government  into  office  under  another,  and,  like  other  iveak  vessels, 
be  kept  "EIGHT  SIDE  UP  WITH  CARE"  all  the  time. 

In  regard  to  this  question  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  intelligence  and 
respectability  did  me  the  honor  to  seek  my  views,  which  will  be  found  in 
the  following  correspondence : 

C'harlottesville,  September  5, 18C5. 
Hon.  JOHN  M.  BOTTS  : 

DEAR  SIR, — The  undersigned  voters  of  the  county  of  Albemarle,  sin 
cerely  desirous  of  being  represented  in  the  next  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  naturally  feel  much  anxiety  as  to  the  probable  effect  upon  their 
chances  of  representation  of  the  congressional  test-oath. 

"We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  grave  questions  that  may  be  raised  as  to 
the  power  of  one  Congress  to  bind  another  by  the  prescription  of  tests  of 
membership,  or  the  still  higher  question  as  to  the  right  of  that  body  to 
add  to  the  constitutional  tests  of  eligibility ;  but  the  crisis  is  one  of  too 
much  moment  to  authorize  us  to  trust  our  dearest  rights  and  interests  to 
a  favorable  solution  of  these  problems,  and  we  therefore  deem  it  expedi 
ent  to  seek  for  some  explicit  information  in  regard  to  them. 

Confiding  in  your  judgment  of  public  affairs,  and  your  facilities  for  a 
fuller  knowledge  of  the  probable  course  of  events  than  we  possess,  we  re- 


APPENDIX.  329 

spectfully  ask  your  opinion  as  to  the  chances  of  the  repeal  or  relaxation 
of  the  existing  test-oath  in  favor  of  Southern  delegates. 

We  know  full  well  that,  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  our  case,  ina 
bility  to  take  the  congressional  oath  may  well  consist  with  the  most  thor 
ough  loyalty ;  but  this  may  not  be  enough  for  those  who  have  our  destiny 
in  their  hands,  and  we  do  not  want  to  throw  our  votes  away. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

W.  H.  SOUTHALL,  G.  PEYTON, 

JAMES  H.  BURNLEY,  THOMAS  WOOD, 

J.  J.  BOWCOCK,  IRA  GARRETT, 

WILLIAM  T.  EARLY,  C.  H.  PRICE, 

T.  W.  WOOD. 

Auburn,  near  Brandy  Station,  September  12, 1SG5. 

GENTLEMEN, — Your  letter  of  the  5th  was  not  received  until  the  8th,  in 
which  you  ask  my  opinions  on  the  several  points  therein  contained  touch 
ing  the  elections  and  qualifications  of  members  to  the  next  Congress. 

The  presence  of  a  houseful  of  visitors,  together  with  a  correspondence 
with  which  I  am  literally  overwhelmed,  and  which  it  would  require  half 
a  dozen  secretaries  to  keep  up  with,  has,  until  this  moment,  put  it  out  of 
my  power  to  give  you  an  answer.  Each  of  the  points  presented,  and  all 
of  which  I  have  seen  raised  by  one  or  more  of  the  candidates  who  offer 
their  services  to  the  country,  are,  I  think,  not  well  taken,  and  are  of  plain, 
clear,  and  easy  solution. 

1st.  As  to  the  power  of  one  Congress  to  bind  another  Congress  by  the 
prescription  of  tests  of  membership. 

It  is  difficult  to  perceive  under  what  strange  delusion  the  idea  could 
have  arisen  that  one  Congress  could  not  bind  a  succeeding  Congress  by 
any  law  it  might  choose  to  pass  until  that  law  was  either  repealed  by  the 
succeeding  Congress  or  pronounced  unconstitutional  by  the  proper  judi 
cial  tribunals  of  the  country.  If  Congress  can  not  bind  its  successors,  then 
we  should  have  no  laws  beyond  the  period  for  which  Congress  was  elect 
ed,  and  there  would  be  an  absence  of  all  law  until  each  was  re-enacted 
by  the  succeeding  Congress.  And  if  this  be  true,  which  no  man  can 
deny,  in  what  consists  the  difference  between  this  and  any  other  law? 
Even  if  it  be  admitted  to  be  unconstitutional,  still  it  is  the  law  of  the 
land  until  repealed  or  declared  null  and  void  by  the  tribunals  constituted 
for  that  purpose.  And  the  next  question  is,  Is  the  act  of  July  2,  1862, 
requiring  each  member  of  Congress  to  take  the  oath  therein  prescribed 


330  APPENDIX. 

before  he  shall  be  admitted  to  participate  in  the  Legislature  of  the  coun 
try,  in  violation  of  any  provision  of  the  Constitution  ?  I  think  it  is  clearly, 
distinctly,  and  unquestionably  within  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress 
to  require  this  oath  to  be  administered  to  every  member  of  the  body. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  there  is  any  provision  of  the  Constitution  in 
terms  forbidding  it ;  but  it  is  assumed  that,  because  the  wise  men  of  the  last 
century  who  made  the  Constitution  deemed  it  essential  to  require  certain 
qualifications  which  should  in  no  wise  be  overlooked  or  dispensed  with, 
such  as  that  no  one  should  be  permitted  to  participate  in  the  Legislature 
of  the  country  who  was  not  of  a  certain  age,  and  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  for  a  certain  period,  and  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  at  the  time  of 
election,  and  who  should  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the 
Constitution,  that  therefore  it  was  intended  to  forbid  all  who  might  come 
after  them  from  availing  themselves  of  the  right  to  impose  such  other  con 
ditions  and  qualifications  as  the  experience  and  wisdom  of  their  success 
ors  might  prove  to  be  judicious  and  necessary ;  such  is  not  my  reading  of 
the  Constitution,  such  is  not  my  judgment  of  the  purposes  of  those  great 
and  wise  men  who  were  framing  for  us  a  form  of  government  which  they 
declared  to  be,  and  intended  should  be  perpetual. 

What  is  the  language  of  the  Constitution  ? 

"  The  senators  and  representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the  mem 
bers  of  the  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  judicial  officers,  both 
of  the  United  States  and  the  several  states,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  af 
firmation  to  support  this  Constitution  ;  but  no  religious  test-oath  shall  be 
required  as  a  qualification  to  any  public  trust  under  the  United  States." 

Here,  then,  is  to  be  found  the  prohibition,  and  the  only  prohibition  on 
the  action  of  Congress — that  no  religious  test-oath  shall  be  required.  If 
it  had  been  intended  that  Congress  should  prescribe  no  other  oath  than 
that  to  support  the  Constitution,  is  it  not  patent  to  all  men's  minds  that 
they  would  have  said  so  in  terms  ?  The  true  reading  of  this  provision,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  is  that  Congress  may  prescribe  such  other  qualifications 
as  their  wisdom  and  experience  may  hereafter  suggest ;  but  they  shall  not 
omit  this  one  all-important  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  they  shall 
not  prescribe  any  religious  test-oath  for  members  of  Congress  and  others. 

Again,  if  this  clause  of  the  Constitution  is  construed  as  fixing  the  only 
qualification  that  can  be  required  for  members  of  Congress,  it  equally  ap 
plies  to  the  state  executive,  to  all  members  of  the  State  Legislature,  and 
to  all  judicial  officers  in  the  states,  for  they  are  all  embraced  in  the  same 
clause,  and  the  same  provision  is  made  for  each  ;  and  as  this  is  declared 


APPENDIX.  331 

to  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  any  thing  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of 
any  state  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  it  would  necessarily  follow  that 
no  other  qualification  could  be  attached  to  any  of  the  state  officers  enu 
merated  ;  and  if  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  this  was  intended  as  a  limitation 
on  the  power  of  Congress  over  the  qualification  of  its  members,  it  is  equally 
to  be  inferred  that  it  was  a  limitation  on  the  powers  of  a  state,  either  by 
law  or  Constitution,  to  impose  any  other  qualification  upon  the  legislative, 
executive,  and  judicial  officers  of  the  states..  Where,  then,  did  the  fram- 
ers  of  the  State  Constitution  of  1830  derive  the  power  to  require  that  a 
senator  or  delegate  should  be  of  the  ages,  respectively,  of  thirty  and  twen 
ty-five  years,  and  an  actual  resident  and  freeholder  of  the  district  or  coun 
ty,  etc.,  that  they  repi-esented?  And  from  what  source  did  they  derive 
the  right  to  confer  upon  the  Legislature  the  power  to  require  any  elected 
member  to  swear  that  he  had  not  fought  a  duel,  or  sent  or  accepted  a 
challenge  to  fight  a  duel,  etc.  ?  Where  would  the  framers  of  any  State 
Constitution  get  the  power  to  limit  the  time  of  a  judge  to  a  certain  age, 
and  say  he  should  not  be  capable  of  holding  such  office  after  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  seventy  ? 

But  again,  in  another  article  of  the  Constitution,  it  is  declared  that 
"  each  House  of  Congress  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and 
qualifications  of  its  own  members1' — that  is  to  say,  they  may  prescribe 
u-hen  and  how  they  shall  be  elected,  and  what  returns  may  be  required, 
and  what  qualifications  may  be  established,  except  that  they  may  not  be 
required  to  conform  to  any  religious  test-oath.  But  the  power  is  also  given 
to  Congress  to  expel  a  member.  If,  then,  the  House  can  expel  one  that 
has  already  been  admitted  to  his  seat  for  accepting  a  bribe,  for  the  com 
mission  of  any  infamous  offense,  for  perjury,  murder,  arson,  or  treason, 
why  may  they  not  also  exclude  from  taking  a  seat  any  who  have  been 
guilty  of  the  same  offense  ?  And  if  certain  parties  labor  under  suspicion 
of  having  been  guifty  of  bribery,  perjury,  murder,  arson,  or  treason,  why 
may  they  not  be  required  to  purge  themselves  of  this  suspicion  before  they 
are  allowed  to  take  a  seat  ?  It  is  ridiculous  and  absurd  to  say  that  a  per 
son  having  committed  one  or  all  of  these  offenses  must  first  be  admitted, 
and  then  on  the  moment,  and  at  the  instant,  he  may  be  expelled.  The 
very  fact  that  Congress  is  empowered  by  the  Constitution  to  expel  for 
cause  establishes  their  right  to  affix  a  qualification  or  qualifications  other 
than  those  already  prescribed  by  the  instrument  itself,  and  it  must  be  clear 
to  all  reflecting  men  that  the  same  qualification  for  holding  a  seat  may  be 
prescribed  for  taking  a  seat  in  the  first  instance. 


332  APPENDIX. 

You  next  ask  my  opinion  as  to  the  chances  of  the  repeal  or  relaxation 
of  the  test-oath  in  favor  of  Southern  delegates,  to  which  I  respond,  that  I 
have  seen  or  heard  nothing  that  would  lead  me  to  suppose  there  was  the 
least  possibility  either  of  its  repeal  or  relaxation  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  have 
strong  reason  to  believe  that  neither  will  be  done,  and  that  the  oath  is 
more  likely  to  be  made  still  more  stringent  than  to  be  relaxed  or  modified. 

1st.  Because  the  next  Congress  is  (as  the  term  goes)  more  radical  than 
the  last.  2d.  Because  this  is  the  first  time  that  those  states  that  have 
been  in  rebellion  have  sent  their  representatives  to  Congress,  and  a  strong 
suspicion  prevails  in  the  North  that,  although  the  rebellion  has  been 
crushed  and  the  South  has  been  forced  to  yield  to  superior  power,  that  the 
spirit  of  rebellion  has  not  yet  been  subdued  in  the  hearts  of  the  leaders  of 
the  rebellion ;  and  again,  because  this  suspicion  and  distrust  will  be  vast 
ly  increased  by  the  fact  that  so  many  disqualified  persons  are  presenting 
themselves  as  candidates  for  Congress,  who  not  only  have  no  possible 
chance  of  obtaining  a  seat,  but  who  openly  avow  upon  the  hustings  that 
they  can  not  and  will  not,  if  elected,  comply  with  the  laws  of  the  United 
States ;  and  this  distrust  and  suspicion  must  inevitably  extend  to  the 
mass  of  the  voters  as  well  as  to  the  leaders,  if,  after  hearing  these  declara 
tions  on  the  part  of  the  candidates,  they  shall  be  so  imprudent  and  un 
wise  as  to  cast  their  votes  for  them  at  the  polls  :  that  it  will  betray  on  the 
part  of  such  voters,  as  it  necessarily  does  on  the  part  of  the  candidates,  a 
spirit  of  resistance  to  the  law,  is  beyond  all  question ;  and  all  such  votes, 
I  think,  will  be  disregarded  and  thrown  away.  But  the  election  of  such 
men  will  necessarily  be  the  means  of  postponing  the  restoration  of  the 
civil  authorities  of  the  state,  and  consequently  of  prolonging  the  military 
authority  (which  is  now  exercised  over  us)  to  an  indefinite  period. 

If,  then,  my  judgment  and  advice  is  of  any  weight  in  this  state  or  else 
where,  I  would  urgently  recommend  that  no  man  should  be  voted  for  who 
would  hesitate  to  take  the  oath  in  good  faith  which  tfie  laws  of  his  coun 
try  require  him  to  take.  Better  for  all  in  common  that  you  should  go 
unrepresented.  Better  far  to  take  the  most  ignorant  men  in  your  re 
spective  districts  who  can  comply  with  the  law  than  the  wisest  who  can 
not ;  and  although  it  may  be  unpalatable  to  some  that  I  should  say  so, 
yet,  when  so  much  is  at  stake  for  us  all,  I  will  not  hesitate  to  say  that  it 
appears  to  me  that  nothing  but  absolute  thoiir/htlessness,  or  an  overweening, 
vaulting,  and  inordinate  ambition,  or  an  utter  disregard  of  the  best  inter 
ests  of  the  state,  could  induce  any  one  who  is  conscious  of  his  inability  to 
take  that  oath  to  permit  the  use  of  his  name  for  stirring  up  farther  discord 


APPENDIX.  333 

and  confusion  among  a  people  already  worn  out  and  ruined  by  the  per 
nicious  counsels  of  those  who  led  them  into  the  terrible  scenes  through 
which  the  country  has  just  passed.  The  South  wants  not  only  peace  or 
cessation  of  hostilities  in  the  field,  but  she  wants  peace,  order,  harmony, 
conciliation,  and  concord  in  her  public  councils.  She  wants  unity  of 
feeling,  unity  of  purpose,  unity  of  action  in  her  legislative  halls,  that  she 
may  prepare  for  the  work  of  complete  restoration  of  the  civil  authority, 
for  the  suppression  of  all  discord  and  angry  feeling,  and  for  repairing  the 
heavy  losses  sustained — the  fields  laid  waste,  the  dwellings  destroyed,  the 
labor  lost,  the  ruined  fortunes,  the  blasted  prospects  of  an  abused,  misled, 
and  misguided  people ;  and  surely  this  is  not  to  be  attained  by  perpetu 
ating  controversy,  by  resisting  the  laws,  by  inviting  collisions  between  the 
civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  country.  I  can  conceive  of  nothing 
more  impolitic  and  unwise  than  to  elect  such  persons  at  a  time  like  this 
for  experimenting,  or  for  the  mere  purpose  of  gratifying  the  vanity  of  those 
who  idly  imagine  that  by  their  unsurpassed  and  heavenly-gifted  eloquence 
they  can  persuade  the  two  houses  of  Congress  that  they  have  made  asses 
of  themselves  for  the  last  four  years. 

Let  such  experiments  be  postponed  to  a  more  favorable  and  quiet 
season,  and  let  all  such  candidates  be  assured  that  the  country  can  man 
age  to  get  along  without  their  Godlike  qualities  for  the  present.  And  to 
suppose  that  Congress  would  at  this  time  admit  or  patiently  listen  to  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  "  second  Declaration  of  Independence"  and  declaration 
of  war  against  the  United  States,  in  the  absence  of  which  there  could  have 
been  no  war,  is  little  short  of  madness  itself. 

There  is  one  other  point  that  I  desire  to  say  a  word  upon,  as  I  think 
great  misapprehension  exists  in  relation  to  it.  In  a  card  of  my  friend, 
Mr.  Tim.  Rives,  of  Prince  George,  now  before  me,  he  says : 

"I  can  not  take  the  above  oath  for  the  reason  that  I  accepted  the  office 
of  captain  in  the  Confederate  service,  and  held  a  commission  as  such,  and 
exercised  the  functions  thereof  for  a  period  of  six  months.  You  will  thus 
see,  gentlemen,  that,  appreciating  as  I  do  this  continued  proof  of  your 
confidence  in  me,  I  can  not  comply  with  your  request  and  '  announce  my 
self  a  candidate.' 

"I  will  farther  add  that,  if  I  could  take  the  above  oath  and  swear  that 
'  I  had  voluntarily  given  no  aid,  counsel,  or  encouragement  to  any  persons  en 
gaged  in  armed  hostility  thereto,'  I  should  be  ashamed  to  show  my  face 
in  the  Second  Congressional  District,  much  less  to  ask  the  intelligent  vot 
ers  thereof  for  their  suffrages.  With  the  fact  staring  me  in  the  face  that 


334  APPENDIX. 

every  man  in  the  district  from  seventeen  to  fifty  years  of  age,  by  the  rigid 
law  of  conscription,  has  been  compelled  to  engage  in  the  carnival  of  death 
and  blood  which  has  been  going  on  for  the  past  four  years — the  wounded, 
the  dead,  and  the  dying  daily  before  my  eyes ;  the  hungry  and  almost 
naked  sons  of  the  voters  of  the  district  in  the  trenches  or  on  the  march ; 
to  see  every  other  man  in  the  district,  through  the  sympathy  he  has  for 
his  race,  giving  aid  of  some  kind  to  relieve  their  sufferings,  and  I,  with 
the  callous  heart  of  a  fiend,  stand  unmoved  at  the  tragedy  before  me;  to 
see  the  fair  mothers  and  daughters  of  the  district,  like  good  Samaritans, 
ministering  to  the  wants,  not  of  the  'wayfaring  man, 'but  to  the  fathers, 
sons,  and  brothers  of  the  district ;  some  in  the  hospitals,  wiping  the  clam 
my  sweat  of  death  from  the  brow  of  the  dying  soldier,  others  bathing 
the  ghastly  wounds  and  moistening  the  parched  lips  of  the  suffering  con 
script,  still  I  stand  unmoved,  and  swear  that  I  gave  no  '  aid,  countenance, 
counsel,  or  encouragement'  amid  all  this  suffering !  To  see  blankets, 
shoes,  clothing,  etc.  daily  sent  to  cover  the  almost  naked  soldiers  in  the 
trenches ;  to  see  the  benevolent  of  heart  sending  daily  their  pittance  of 
food  to  help  out  the  short  rations  which  the  soldier  is  put  upon ;  to  see 
Christ's  commandment  carried  out  in  all  its  beauty  and  benevolence, 
'clothe  the  naked  and  feed  the  hungry,'  still  I  stand  ready  to  swear  that 
I  carried  not  a  drop  of  water  on  the  tip  of  my  finger  to  cool  their  parch 
ed  lips !  And  for  this  reason  I  come  and  ask  you  for  your  suffrages,  and 
you  vote  for  me,  not  for  any  merit  that  is  in  me,  but  because  I  can  take  the 
oath,  and  by  the  grace  of  somebody  else  take  my  seat  and  hold  it !" 

As  this  erroneous  or  false  construction  and  special  pleading  of  Mr. 
Rives  may  mislead  others,  I  may  stand  excused,  I  hope,  for  availing  my 
self  of  this  occasion  to  answer  it.  Others,  too,  have  taken  very  much  the 
same  ground — that,  having  fed  Confederate  soldiers,  or  clothed  their  own 
sons  in  the  service,  they  could  not  conscientiously  take  the  necessary 
oath.  I  apprehend  it  will  be  found  generally  that  those  who  take  this 
ground  have  some  other  reason  for  not  taking  the  oath,  for  if  that  be  a 
fair  construction  of  its  meaning,  then  I  freely  admit  that  the  South  will 
have  to  go  without  representation  in  Congress  until  this  oath  is  modified  ; 
but  I  think  it  bears  no  such  construction ;  it  is  a  false  construction  of 
what  was  intended  and  of  what  the  language  of  the  oath  imports. 

To  clothe  or  feed  a  son  in  the  army,  which  you  would  have  to  do  if  not 
in  the  army,  to  nurse  the  sick,  to  feed  the  hungry,  to  administer  to  the 
suffering  of  the  individual  man,  is  not  to  aid  the  rebellion,  for  if  it  did  in 
the  sense  here  indicated,  there  is  perhaps  no  man  in  the  South  who  is  not 


APPENDIX.  335 

a  traitor ;  and  there  were  few  officers  or  men  in  the  United  States  armies 
who  were  not  also  traitors  to  their  country,  for  they  nursed  the  wounded 
and  the  sick,  relieved  their  suffering,  and  fed  their  enemies ;  and  who  but 
a  brute  would  not  help  a  fallen  foe  ?  And  does  any  one  suppose  that  a 
civilized  and  enlightened  people  would  regard  it  as  treason  to  hold  a  re 
freshing  glass  to  the  parched  lips  of  a  wounded  soldier  whom  he  himself 
has  just  laid  prostrate  at  his  feet?  And  the  government  of  the  United 
States  too,  under  this  interpretation,  has  been  a  traitor  to  itself ;  for  who 
fed  so  many  as  Mr.  Lincoln?  Who  nursed  so  many  of  the  sick  and 
wounded  as  Mr.  Lincoln  ?  Who  clothed  so  many  as  Mr.  Lincoln,  and 
then  restored  them  to  the  ranks  of  the  Confederate  army ;  and  yet,  could 
not  he  take  this  oath?  If  to  give  food  to  the  hungry  or  nurse  the 
wounded  and  sick  was  an  offense,  so  it  was  equally  a  crime  .to  give  a 
glass  of  water  to  the  thirsty ;  and  if  this  constituted  treason,  I  confess 
myself  as  among  the  most  culpable  of  traitors ;  for  all  this  have  I  done. 
I  have  probably  fed  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  one  man  in  the  Confed 
eracy  (only  because  they  were  around  me  all  the  time) ;  but  God  knows 
as  well  as  I  that  it  was  never  done  with  a  view  to  help  the  rebellion,  for 
which  I  never,  for  the  first  moment,  had  the  least  particle  of  sympathy 
or  respect.  I  did  sympathize  with  my  misguided,  deluded,  cheated,  be 
trayed  countrymen,  but  never  did  I  have  the  least  sympathy  for  the  rebel 
lion  or  its  authors. 

If  this  was  the  only  difficulty  in  the  way  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Rives,  I 
think  he  would  manage  to  swallow  the  oath ;  but,  unfortunately,  there  is 
the  other  difficulty  of  his  having  accepted  the  commission  of  captain  in 
the  Confederate  service,  under  which  he  could  not  take  the  oath  ;  and  I 
regret  it  deeply  and  sincerely,  for  I  believe  he  was  in  his  heart  all  the  time 
a  Union  man ;  and  although  we  have  always  differed  in  politics,  I  believe 
he  is  an  honest,  fearless,  patriotic  man  in  every  sense  and  in  all  relations 
but  this,  in  which  he  made,  as  I  think,  a  great  mistake ;  and  believing  in 
his  entire  loyalty  now,  I  should  be  highly  gratified  to  see  him  in  the  pub 
lic  councils  at  this  time  if  it  were  not  that  he  can  not  conscientiously  com 
ply  with  the  laws  of  his  country ;  and  I  commend  his  example,  in  with 
holding  the  use  of  his  name  for  the  purpose  of  stirring  up  more  discord 
and  trouble  in  the  land,  as  one  worthy  of  imitation  by  others  who  are  in 
the  same  situation. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant,     JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 
To  W.  H.  Southall,  James  H.  Burnley,  J.  \V.  Bowcock,  William  T.  Early,  G.  Peyton, 

Thomas  Wood,  Ira  GarrejULjC.  H.  Price,  and  T.  W.  Woods,  Esqs. 

• 


^taAK 


336  APPENDIX. 

Auburn,  near  Brandy  Station,  September  26, 1865. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  the  22d  instant  was  received  yesterday, 
and  I  have  given  to  the  views  you  present  that  careful  consideration  which 
your  opinions  always  command  from  me,  and  to  my  mind  it  appears 
that  if  we  do  not  entirely  agree,  it  is  a  distinction  without  a  difference. 

You  claim  for  Congress  all  the  power  that  I  claim ;  but  you  put  it  on 
the  ground  of  a  "general  legislative  function"  and  an  "inherent  power 
of  Congress  to  defend  itself  against  disloyalty  in  the  service  of  the  govern 
ment  -, "  and  in  doing  this,  I  think,  you  surrender  the  whole  question,  for 
how  can  this  general  legislative  function,  this  inherent  right  to  pass  a  law 
which  creates  an  additional  qualification  for  members  of  Congress  be  de 
fended,  unless  it  is  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  ? 
And  if  its  constitutionality  is  conceded,  from  what  clause  can  it  be  more 
clearly  derived  than  from  that  to  which  I  have  traced  it  ?  If  the  same 
power  can  be  derived  from  any  other  clause,  it  only  serves  to  strengthen 
my  position. 

You  first  deny  the  power  of  Congress  to  prescribe  any  additional  quali 
fication  to  those  already  enumerated  in  the  Constitution,  and  then  you 
claim  for  Congress  the  power  to  prescribe  this  particular  test-oath,  which 
you  admit,  and  which  does,  beyond  doubt,  create  an  additional  qualifica 
tion. 

Now  I  might  content  myself  with  asking  you  "What  is  the  difference 
between  the  power  of  Congress  to  prescribe  an  additional  qualification 
and  the  power  to  pass  a  law  the  effect  of  which  is  to  create  this  qualifi 
cation  ?  Or,  if  you  prefer  it,  what  is  the  difference  between  a  law  that  is 
designed  to  produce  a  certain  effect  and  one  by  which  the  same  effect  is 
produced  ?  The  first  maxim  we  were  taught  in  mathematics  in  our  school 
boy  days  was,  that  'things  equal  to  the  same  are  equal  to  one  another.'" 

But  I  want  to  vindicate  my  own  position  with  you,  and  will  not  be  con 
tent  with  your  solution  of  this  problem,  and  therefore  I  proceed. 

You  and  Mr.  Stuart  (in  his  card)  both  seem  to  dread  the  abuse  of  this 
power  of  Congress  over  the  qualification  of  its  members.  Undoubtedly 
this,  like  all  other  powers,  may  be  liable  to  abuse,  but  less  so,  perhaps, 
than  almost  any  other,  for  the  reason  that  it  operates  equally  upon  them 
selves  as  upon  their  successors ;  but  its  liability  to  abuse  is  no  argument 
against  its  legitimate  exercise.  There  are  but  few  if  any  powers  con 
ferred  upon  the  executive  branch  of  the  government  that  have  not  been 
abused — especially  the  veto  power  and  the  power  of  appointment  to  and 
removal  from  office  have  been  grossly  abused  ;  but  it  can  not  for  that  rea- 


APPENDIX.  337 

son  be  argued  that  the  veto  power  and  the  power  to  appoint  and  remove 
for  cause  have  not  been  conferred  upon  the  President,  although  not  a 
word  is  said  in  the  Constitution  about  the  power  of  removal.  It  is  a  de 
rivative  power,  and  one  derived  from  the  power  to  appoint ;  as  is  this  a 
derivative  power,  derived  from  the  powers  to  which  I  have  already  called 
attention.  Now  if  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  meant  to  say  that  no 
other  oath  should  ever  be  required,  why  didn't  they  say  so  ?  Why  did 
they  confine  their  prohibition  to  this  one  specific  religious  test-oath  ?  In 
short,  all  power  is  liable  to  abuse,  whether  lodged  with  the  executive, 
legislative,  or  judicial  department  of  the  government,  and  each,  in  turn, 
has  abused  its  power. 

If  the  Constitution  had  said,  as  our  State  Constitution  reads,  "Any 
person  who  has  attained  the  age  of  twenty-five,  has  been  a  citizen  for 
seven  years,"  etc.,  etc.,  shall  be  entitled  or  qualified  to  serve  as  a  repre 
sentative  in  Congress,  then  I  might  agree  with  you  that  the  qualification 
was  fixed  and  unalterable.  But  such  is  not  the  reading  of  the  Constitu 
tion  ;  it  deals  in  the  negative,  and  not  the  affirmative  qualifications.  It 
says :  "  No  person  shall  be  a  representative  without  certain  specified  qual 
ifications,  which  are  deemed  all-important,  and  shall,  under  no  circum 
stances,  be  dispensed  with."  Then  in  another  part  of  the  Constitution 
one  other  indispensable  requisite  is  prescribed,  to  wit,  that  the  represent 
ative  shall  be  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution,  but  no  religious  test-oath 
shall  ever  be  required.  Shall  ever  be  required  by  whom  and  how  ?  By 
Congress,  and  by  law,  of  course.  But  is  not  this  equivalent  to  saying  that, 
if  hereafter  it  shall  be  found  necessary  and  proper,  Congress  may  by  law 
require  any  other  than  a  religious  test-oath,  especially,  too,  when  it  is 
provided  that  Congress  shall  have  power  "to  make  all  laws  which  may 
be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing  power, 
and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  department  or  officer  thereof?"  And  can  there  be 
any  thing  more  necessary  and  proper  in  conducting  the  government  than 
that  there  should  be  wise,  judicious,  patriotic,  and  /oyaHegislation,  and  an 
honest  and  faithful  execution  of  the  laws  ? 

The  only  qualification  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  for  a  judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  consequently  for  chief-justice,  is  that  he  shall  take  an 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution.  Now  suppose  some  beast  of  a  Presi 
dent,  with  a  demoralized  Senate  at  his  heels,  should  nominate  for  chief- 
justice  an  ignorant  tool  as  a  reward  for  his  partisan  services,  or  some  polit 
ical  prostitute  who  had  been  convicted  of  briber}',  perjury,  or  other  infamous 

P 


338  APPENDIX, 

offense,  or  an  alien,  ignorant  of  our  laws,  customs,  and  language,  or  a 
popular  military  commander  who  had  no  knowledge  of  law,  or  in  any 
other  way  the  necessity  had  arisen  or  was  likely  to  arise,  do  you  think  it 
would  violate  either  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  if  Congress 
Avere  to  add  to  this  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  such  other  qualifica 
tions  as  that  he  should  be  of  a  certain  age,  that  he  should  have  studied 
and  obtained  a  license  to  practice  law,  that  he  had  never  been  convicted 
of  an  infamous  offense,  and  that  he  should  be  a  white  man,  and  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States ;  and  if  they  could  thus  add  to  the  constitutional 
qualifications  of  a  judge,  why  not  to  those  of  a  member  of  Congress? 

"  Each  house  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifica 
tions  of  its  members."  I  can  not  concur  in  your  interpretation  of  this 
clause,  that  it  was  only  intended  to  interdict  mandamus,  etc.  That  this 
was  one  object  I  do  not  doubt,  but  not  the  only  one.  Nor  does  it  follow, 
as  you  suppose,  that  by  my  construction  one  house  might  prescribe  one  set 
of  qualifications,  and  the  other  another. 

I  think  this  clause  was  intended  to  apply  to  the  qualifications  as  pro 
vided  by  the  Constitution,  or  such  as  might  at  a  future  day  be  prescribed  or 
required  by  law,  and  not  that  each  house  might  establish  qualifications  for 
itself,  but  that  each  should  judge  for  itself  whether  its  members  possessed 
the  qualifications  and  came  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  law.  At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  negroes  were  no 
where  and  by  nobody  recognized  as  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  there 
fore  to  require  that  the  President,  Vice-president,  members  of  Congress, 
etc.,  should  be  citizens  of  the  United  States,  was  equivalent  to  requiring 
that  none  but  ichite  jjersons  should  be  capable  of  filling  these  offices.  But 
now  this  whole  matter  has  been  changed.  Negroes  have  been  made  citi 
zens,  and  the  right  to  vote  and  to  represent  has  been  claimed  for  them  ; 
and  already  a  colored  lawyer  has  been  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Su 
preme  Court.  Now  let  me  ask  you  if  you  think  it  would  conflict  with 
the  terms  of  the  Constitution,  or  with  the  purposes  of  its  framers,  if  Con 
gress  were  to  provide  by  law  that  no  one  of  African  descent  should  be  ca 
pable  of  filling  these  high  offices?  Or  do  you  think  our  institutions 
would  be  endangered  thereby?  But  can  any  thing  be  more  absurd  than 
the  pretensions  set  up,  that  while  these  men  have  forfeited  their  lives  to 
the  requirements  of  the  Constitution  and  law,  that,  nevertheless,  the  same 
Constitution  has  secured  to  them  an  inalienable  and  indestructible  right 
to  legislate  for  the  country  they  had  for  four  years  labored  andfovght  to 
destroy  ? 


APPENDIX.  339 

You  can  not  infer  from  my  letter  to  the  gentlemen  in  Albemarle  who 
did  me  the  honor  to  seek  my  opinions  that  I  intended  to  deny  the  pow 
er  of  each  state  to  fix  the  qualifications  of  its  own  officers,  in  addition  to 
the  one  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  On  the  con 
trary,  my  purpose  was  to  show  that  they  had  such  power,  and  that  it  had 
never  been  disputed ;  but  my  argument  was,  that  as  this  clause  did  not 
operate  as  a  limitation  to  the  power  of  the  state  except  as  to  the  religious 
test-oath,  so  in  like  manner  it  did  not  operate  as  a  limitation  to  the  pow 
er  of  Congress  to  add  to  as  circumstances  might  require,  but  not  to  depart 
from  the  qualifications  therein  prescribed. 

I  am  sorry  there  should  be  any  difference  between  us  on  this  point,  but, 
as  I  have  already  said,  it  is  more  in  the  use  of  terms  than  in  substance, 
and  I  care  very  little  for  the  use  of  terms  provided  I  get  the  substance. 

May  I  not,  then,  ask  you  to  review  your  own  argument,  and  tell  me 
why  more  apprehension  should  be  felt  for  the  safety  of  our  institutions  be 
cause  the  law-making  power  is  intrusted  with  the  right  to  add  to  the  qual 
ifications  of  the  members  of  Congress,  and  to  throw  additional  safeguards 
around  the  legislation  of  the  country,  than  they  are  from  the  power  to 
raise  armies,  make  war,  regulate  commerce,  impose  taxes,  and  enforce  the 
laws  by  arms  if  necessary  ;  and.  when  you  have  done  this,  I  will  take  much 
pleasure  in  reviewing  my  own  arguments,  and  recanting  my  opinions  if 
convinced  of  my  error. 

I  am  ever  faithfully  and  truly  yours,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

PRESIDENT  JOHNSON'S   POLICY   OF   RECONSTRUCTION. 

When  Mr.  Johnson's  policy  of  reconstruction  was  first  announced,  I 
thought  he  committed  a  mistake  in  not  calling  Congress  together,  that 
the  law -making  power  might  act  harmoniously  together,  and  because  I  be 
lieved  that  reconstruction  could  not  be  valid  and  complete  Avithout  the 
sanction  of  the  Senate,  House,  and  President ;  nevertheless,  it  was  not  for 
me  to  cavil  about  it  while  all  others  seemed  to  acquiesce. 

That  policy,  as  I  then  understood  it,  was  to  extend  pardon  to  the  least 
culpable  of  the  rebels,  and  to  make  "  treason  odious"  by  some  judicious 
system  of  punishment  for  the  more  wicked  and  guilty  offenders,  and  es 
pecially  that  all  political  power  was  to  be  withheld  from  those  who  had 
shown  themselves  so  unfaithful  to  their  obligations  of  duty,  and  so  unfit 
and  unworthy  to  be  trusted  again. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  with  this  understanding,  I  labored  for 
months  in  efforts  to  restore  harmony  to  the  distracted  South,  in  procuring 


340  APPENDIX. 

release  of  prisoners,  and  in  obtaining  pardons  for  the  least  undeserving, 
but  by  what  I  have  always  believed  to  be  gross  deceptions  practiced  on 
the  President.  I  found  that  through  the  use  of  money  paid  to  pardon- 
brokers  and  feed  attorneys,  aided  by  the  influence  of  subordinates  in  the 
employment  of  the  administration,  pardons  were  more  readily  procured 
for  the  most  vindictive  and  obnoxious  traitors,  than  for  those  who  had 
sinned  the  least  but  had  no  money  wherewith  to  purchase  a  release.  I 
found  these  same  pardoned  rebels  flaunting  their  pardons  in  the  faces  of 
those  whose  generosity  or  misplaced  confidence  had  recommended  them, 
and  assuming  a  superiority  over  those  to  whom  they  had  in  humility  ap 
pealed  for  aid.  I  saw  men  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  upon  whom  the  Con 
stitution  itself  had  set  its  seal  of  condemnation  and  declared  unworthy  of 
holding  office,  rushing  with  impetuous  haste  into  the  legislative  halls  in 
utter  disregard  of  its  plainest  provisions,  trampling  under  foot  the  consti 
tutional  oath  prescribed,  and  then  and  there  exercising  dictatorial  and 
tyrannical  power  by  hurling  headlong  from  office  better  men  than  them 
selves,  who  had  been  released  by  the  governor  of  the  commonwealth  for  their 
loyalty  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  substituting  for  them 
those  only  who  had  given  evidence  of  their  loyalty  to  the  rebellion.  I 
saw  them  in  the  social  as  well  as  the  political  circles  availing  themselves 
of  their  superior  numbers,  assigning  all  loyal  men  and  women  to  a  posi 
tion  of  absolute  inferiority,  and  demanding  for  themselves,  as  if  by  Divine 
right,  the  favor  to  control  and  rule  with  an  iron  rod.  I  saw  them  educa 
ting  the  masses  of  the  people  to  look  upon  every  demonstration  of  loyalty, 
either  during  or  since  the  war,  as  degrading  and  infamous,  until  the  in 
terposition  of  the  national  authorities  was  found  necessary  to  set  aside 
elections  of  public  officers  known  to  have  been  selected  for  their  services  to 
the  rebellious  government ;  to  suspend  the  publication  of  various  papers 
published  through  the  state  for  their  obnoxious  and  disloyal  sentiments 
scattered  among  the  people.  All  this  I  saw  from  men  who  but  yesterday 
were  sworn  citizens  of  another  government,  warring  against  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  and  struggling  to  overthrow  the  great  Republi 
can  Empire  of  the  world  ;  and  I  thought  the  time  had  arrived  when  the  law 
should  be  appealed  to,  and  justice  should  be  enforced  upon  a  people  who  in 
the  beginning  had  forsworn  their  obligations,  treacherously  and  sacrile 
giously  abandoned  their  posts  of  duty,  and  in  the  end  were  insensible  to  the 
mercy  that  had  been  extended  to  them,  oblivious  to  all  marks  of  kindness, 
and  were  still  bent  on  mischief  to  the  country,  and  ruin  to  all  who  did  not 
tamely  submit  to  their  outrageous  oppressions  and  to  their  despotic  de 
mands. 


APPENDIX.  341 

It  was  under  theso  circumstances  that  I  prepared  the  following  sugges 
tions,  in  the  form  of  political  axioms,  for  the  public  press,  that  the  national 
authorities  might  be  recalled  to  the  great  duties  they  had  to  perform  for 
the  future  peace  and  safety  of  the  republic,  and  for  the  permanent  securi 
ty  of  the  rights  of  loyalty,  which  I  am  happy  to  say  have  not  been  with 
out  effect. 

MR.  BOTTS'S   AXIOMS. 

A  few  plain  political  axioms  that  can  not  be  successfully  disputed  or 
denied,  and  which  serve  to  solve  the  perplexed  problem  of  the  status  of 
the  states  and  the  people  of  the  states  lately  in  rebellion  against  the  au 
thority  of  the  United  States  : 

1st.  The  right  of  seeession  is  not  only  not  authorized,  but  is  expressly 
forbidden  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

2d.  It  follows,  that  all  ordinances  of  secession  adopted  by  the  states 
lately  in  rebellion  were  null  and  void  in  law. 

3d.  That  the  allegiance  of  the  citizen  is  due  to  his  state,  and  that  there 
are  thirty-six  different  allegiances  in  the  United  States,  and  not  one  man 
owing  allegiance  to  the  great  central  government,  which  is  supreme  over 
all,  is  a  proposition  too  absurd  to  be  argued. 

4th.  From  which  it  results  that  no  state  has  been  out  of  the  Union,  and 
could  not  be  carried  out  otherwise  than  by  successful  revolution ;  and  to 
admit  that  any  of  the  rebellious  states  are  or  have  been  out  of  the  Union, 
would  necessarily  amount  to  an  admission  that  the  Union  had  been  dis 
solved,  and  that  we  had  been  engaged  in  a  foreign  and  not  a  civil  war ; 
all  of  which  would  materially  impair  the  virtue  and  efficacy  of  that  in 
strument,  which  is  recognized  and  claimed  as  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land. 

5th.  But  while  no  body  of  men,  however  constituted,  could  take  a  state 
out  of  the  Union  except  by  force  of  arms,  yet  any  attempt  to  do  so  by 
those  owing  allegiance  to  the  United  States  assui-edly  constituted  the 
great  crime  of  high  treason,  if  any  such  crime  still  exists  under  our  insti 
tutions. 

Gth.  The  right  of  expatriation  or  denationalization,  however,  has  never 
been  denied  to  the  people  of  this  country ;  and  while  they  could  not  take 
a  state  out  of  the  Union,  it  can  not  be  denied  that  the  citizens  of  the  re 
bellious  states  could  take  themselves  out  at  pleasure,  either  individually 
or  collectively. 

7th.  Nor  can  it  be  disputed  that  the  late  so-called  Confederate  States 


342  APPENDIX. 

did  for  four  years  constitute  a  government  " de  facto;"  and  it  follows  that 
all  those  who  assisted  in  creating  that  de  facto  government,  by  voting  in 
convention  for  an  ordinance  of  secession  or  signing  the  same,  or  who 
voluntarily  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  or  held  office,  civil  or  military, 
under  the  said  "  de  facto"  government,  which  offices  could  only  be  held 
by  citizens  of  a  government  then  hostile  to  and  at  war  with  the  United 
States,  thereby  alienated  themselves  from  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and,  by  thus  renouncing  their  allegiance,  disclaimed  all  pretensions 
to  its  protection,  and  are  therefore  aliens  to  this  government,  and  can  only 
be  restored  to  the  rights  of  citizenship  through  the  established  laws  of 
naturalization,  or  by  a  special  act  of  legislation. 

8th.  There  can  be  no  difference  in  law  or  in  fact  in  the  political  sta 
tus  of  those  Southern  persons  who  have  taken  tke  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  "de  facto"  government  of  the  so-called  Emperor  Maximilian,  and 
those  who  have  taken  a  similar  oath,  or  otherwise  made  themselves  citi 
zens  of  the  "de  facto"  government  of  the  so-called  President  Davis. 

9th.  These  being  the  natural,  lawful,  and  unavoidable  consequences  of 
secession,  alienation,  and  treason,  it  follows  that  the  functions  of  govern 
ment  in  those  states  lately  in  rebellion  have  been  suspended  by  the  un 
constitutional  action  of  those  temporarily  in  authority  in  those  states ; 
and  that  these  state  governments  can  only  be  restored  through  the  action 
of  the  law-making  power  of  the  United  States  ;  and  upon  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion  and  the  restoration  of  peace,  the  right  to  govern  and  con 
trol  these  states  naturally,  constitutionally,  and  inherently  devolves  on  the 
loyal  citizens  thereof,  who  have  fallen  heirs  to  the  estate,  and  who  can  not 
lawfully  be  subjected  to  the  power  and  control  of  alien  enemies  to  them 
and  to  the  country ;  and  that  these  loyal  citizens  have  also  a  natural, 
constitutional,  and  inherent  right,  under  the  sanction  of  said  law-making 
power,  to  resume  their  original  position  in  the  government  and  councils 
of  the  nation;  and,  therefore,  all  representatives  to  Congress  who  present 
themselves  with  the  proper  evidence  of  election,  and  who  are  prepared, 
honestly  and  in  good  faith,  to  comply  with  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States,  should  be  admitted  without  unnecessary  delay  to  a  par 
ticipation  in  the  legislation  of  the  nation  ;  and  to  withhold  this  right  is  to 
place  the  loyal  on  the  same  platform  with  the  disloyal — the  friends  on  a 
footing  with  the  enemies  of  the  country. 

10th.  The  President  is  clothed  with  the  power  to  grant  reprieves  and 
pardons  to  those  who  have  committed  offenses  against  the  United  States ; 
but  as  none  are  legally  offenders,  and  as  no  man  in  this  country  can  be 


APPENDIX.  343 

legally  punished  for  any  offense,  no  matter  how  atrocious  or  aggravated 
the  crime,  until  he  has  been  tried  and  convicted  of  the  offense  with  which 
he  stands  charged,  so  no  reprieve  or  pardon  (the  exercise  of  which  pow 
ers  commence  simultaneously)  can  be  constitutionally  granted  before  the 
party  or  parties  have  been  tried  and  convicted  according  to  law ;  and, 
therefore,  all  pardons  heretofore  granted  to  those  lately  in  rebellion  have 
been  premature,  and  are  null  and  void. 

llth.  It  is  patent  to  observing  men  that  all  attempts  at  reconstruction 
in  many  of  the  states,  through  the  misplaced  confidence  and  unappre 
ciated  kindness  and  magnanimity  of  the  President,  through  the  action  of 
those  who  have  occupied  the  relations  of  alien  enemies  to  the  United 
States,  have  not  only  failed  in  their  anticipated  effects,  but  are  in  many 
respects  unsafe  as  a  precedent,  pernicious  in  their  results,  dangerous  to 
our  institutions,  and  should  be  commenced  "de  novo." 

12th.  Therefore,  in  all  such  states  as  have  not,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
law-making  power,  been  finally  reconstructed,  it  Avill  be  right  and  proper 
that  a  military  or  provisional  governor  of  loyal  antecedents  should  be 
appointed  (except  for  the  State  of  Virginia),  with  instructions  to  call  a 
convention,  to  be  composed  of  loyal  men  only,  to  be  elected  by  those  who 
arc  authorized  to  vote  by  their  existing  State  Constitutions. 

13th.  The  State  of  Virginia,  although  a  large  majority  of  her  people 
were  in  rebellion,  has  been  continuously  and  without  interruption,  through 
the  action  of  a  portion  of  her  loyal  citizens,  recognized  as  a  state  govern 
ment  by  every  department  of  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  with 
a  governor  regularly  elected  under  the  Constitution  of  1851;  with  her 
representatives  admitted  to  seats  in  each  branch  of  Congress  during  the  re 
bellion,  she  therefore  stands  in  a  different  relation  to  the  government  from 
those  States  that  have  disclaimed  all  right  to  such  representation,  and  that 
have  had  provisional  governors  since  the  war  appointed  by  the  President. 

14th.  But  inasmuch  as  the  Constitution  of  Virginia,  now  in  operation, 
declares  that  the  House  of  Delegates  shall  consist  of  not  less  than  eighty, 
nor  more  than  one  hundred  and  four  members,  and  the  Senate  shall  never 
be  less  than  one  fourth  that  number;  and  inasmuch  as  the  first  Legislature 
that  assembled  under  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  consisted  of  only 
fourteen  in  one  house  and  six  in  the  other,  and  as  the  present  Legislature 
now  in  session  at  Kichmond  was  authorized  and  convened  by  the  said 
"town  council'"  (as  it  has  been  aptly  termed  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States),  which  possessed  no  such  authority ;  and  as  the  present  Legislature 
is  composed,  in  a  large  part,  of  those  who  were  expressly  forbidden  by  the 


344  APPENDIX. 

Constitution  under  which  they  profess  to  act  to  hold  any  office  whatever ; 
and  inasmuch  as  stich  Constitution  imperatively  requires  an  oath  to  be 
administered  to  each  one  before  he  shall  be  qualified  to  serve  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Legislature,  which  oath  has  never  been  administered  to  any 
one  member  of  the  body,  but  has  been  totally  disregarded  and  set  aside ; 
and  inasmuch  as  they  have  proceeded  without  authority  to  remove  all 
disabilities  imposed  upon  themselves  by  the  Constitution,  and  have  at  the 
same  time  endeavored,  by  their  legislative  action,  to  make  treason  a  virtue 
to  be  rewarded,  and  loyalty  to  the  United  States  a  crime  to  be  punished, 
by  removing  from  office  every  loyal  citizen  whom  they  could  reach,  and 
substituting  in  their  stead  those  who  have  figured  conspicuously  in  the 
rebel  service,  and  who  are  disqualified  by  the  Constitution  from  holding 
the  offices  which  they  have  been  selected  to  fill ;  therefore,  it  is  clear  that 
there  has  been  no  constitutionally  organized  legislative  body  in  Virginia 
since  their  present  Constitution  was  adopted  in  the  year  18G4-,  and  that, 
by  necessary  consequence,  all  acts,  and  parts  of  acts,  resolutions,  elections, 
appointments,  and  other  proceedings  adopted  by  either  of  the  bodies  styl 
ing  themselves  "The  Legislature  of  Virginia"  since  the  adoption  of  the 
Alexandria  Constitution,  have  been  in  violation  of  the  plainest  provisional 
requirements  of  that  Constitution,  and  are  absolutely  null  and  void,  and 
of  no  effect. 

15th.  In  this  condition  of  things  it  is  imperatively  ncccssnry  that  the 
restoration  of  that  state  to  its  national  rights  should  be  commenced  "de 
novo"  by  the  call  of  a  Legislature  by  the  governor  of  the  state,  to  be  com 
posed  Q£  loyal  men  only,  under  such  restrictions  upon  the  eligibility  to  office 
as  the  Constitution  provides,  and  under  such  enlargement  of  the  qualifica 
tion  of  suffrage  as  the  military  authorities  may  prescribe  (that  state  being 
still  under  military  control),  as  will  render  an  election  practicable. 

THE  GARNETT  LETTERS — THE  FIRST  LETTER. 

The  following  letter  will  explain  itself.  It  was  addressed  to  a  gentle 
man  that  I  knew  to  be  a  warm  personal  friend,  and  I  had  supposed  sym 
pathized  in  all  my  political  views,  but  in  this  it  seems  I  was  mistaken. 
Whether  the  fault  was  mine  or  his,  it  is  not  proper  here  to  inquire  ;  but  I 
addressed  the  letter  to  him  through  the  public  prints— having  first  asked 
his  permission  to  do  so— in  reply  to  one  just  received  from  him. 

This  letter  was  intended  as  an  explanation  of  the  above  axioms,  and  as 
illustrative  of  my  views  of  the  political  sentiment  and  condition  of  Vir 
ginia  at  the  time. 


APPENDIX.  345 

Alexandria,  Va.,  February  1C,  1866. 
MUSCOE  GA.KNETT,  Esq. : 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  reached  me  last  night,  in  which  you  say,  "The 
report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Alexandria  meeting  has  been  published 
here,  and  is  doing  you  serious  injury ;  the  committee  appointed  to  wait  upon 
you  reported  that  suffering  from  neuralgia  prevented  you  addressing  the 
meeting,  and  that  you  declined  doing  so  with  thanks,  leaving  it  to  be  in 
ferred  that,  if  well,  you  would  have  accepted  the  invitation,  and  that  you 
approved  the  object  of  the  meeting.  This  has  inspirited  your  enemies 
and  dispirited  your  friends  to  a  degree  you  can  scarcely  imagine.  Your 
letter  to  me  says  you  disapproved  of  the  movement,  but  I  am  not  author 
ized  to  publish  it ;  it  is  due  to  yourself  and  your  many  warm  friends  that 
you  should  clearly  define  your  position.  We  can  elect  you  to  the  Senate 
before  the  adjournment,  with  this  difficulty  removed ;  let  it  rest  as  it  is, 
and  there  is  no  chance." 

You  will  excuse  me,  my  good  friend,  for  saying  that  no  man,  in  my 
opinion,  ever  had  a  body  of  as  many  warm  friends  as  I  know,  and  grate 
fully  know,  I  have,  who  was  so  frequently  called  upon  to  defend  himself 
before  them  for  every  idle  and  ridiculous  conjecture  that  his  enemies  might 
whisper  to  his  disadvantage.  Let  me  state  the  facts  of  the  case :  I  ar 
rived  here  on  that  afternoon  without  the  slightest  knowledge  that  such  a 
meeting  was  in  contemplation ;  during  the  evening  the  committee  ap 
pointed  for  that  purpose  called,  and  extended  the  invitation  to  attend 
the  meeting  and  address  them,  to  which  I  replied,  ""Why,  gentlemen,  it 
would  be  impossible  for  me  to  address  the  meeting  without  making  my 
self  an  unacceptable  guest,  as  I  do  not  concur  with  you  in  your  views. 
I  am  inflexibly  opposed  to  your  whole  scheme.  I  can  not  admit  that 
there  is  any  power  in  Congress  to  reduce  a  state  to  the  condition  of  a  ter 
ritory  ;  the  Constitution  provides  for  making  a  state  out  of  a  territory, 
but  it  nowhere  provides  for  reducing  a  state  to  a  territory."  They  then 
askfed  me  if  they  should  give  that  as  my  reply  to  the  meeting.  I  said,  , 
"Oh  no;  that  might  be  regarded  as  discourteous  to  the  meeting;  make 
some  excuse  for  me :  say  I  have  the  neuralgia,  and  am  afraid  to  venture 
out,"  and  I  might  have  added,  return  them  my  thanks  for  the  compli 
ment.  If  I  did  not,  I  should  have  done  it ;  common  civility  required  it, 
and  I  am  obliged  to  the  committee  for  supplying  the  omission  if  I  did 
not ;  but  it  never  entered  into  my  mind  that  this  most  innocent  occur 
rence  would  involve  me  in  so  much  trouble  with  my  friends  elsewhere  ; 
but  that  to  decline  an  invitation  to  address  a  meeting,  with  "  thanks"  for 

P2 


346  APPENDIX. 

the  compliment  extended,  would  justify  the  inference  that  I  was  neces 
sarily  in  sympathy  with  the  views  and  political  purposes  of  the  meeting,  is 
just  one  inch  and  a  half  beyond  the  extent  of  my  comprehension! 

It  was  but  the  last  month  that  I  declined  an  invitation  from  the  Tam 
many  (Democratic)  Society  of  New  York  to  dine  with  them,  and  I  ex 
pressed  to  them,  in  more  than  ordinarily  strong  terms,  my  thanks  for 
the  invitation ;  but  I  have  never  heard  of  any  Democratic  enemy  whis 
pering  the  apprehension  that  I  was,  therefore,  in  sympathy  with  the  De 
mocracy,  and  was  about  to  join  that  party.  Moreover,  it  was  known  to 
at  least  thirty  or  forty  of  my  friends  in  the  two  houses  that  I  was  en 
tirely  opposed  to  the  objects  and  purposes  of  the  Alexandria  meeting,  for 
they  had  heard  me  express  that  opposition  only  ten  days  before  while  I 
was  on  a  visit  to  Richmond,  and,  without  any  publication  from  me,  they 
could  have  made  that  fact  known  to  every  man  in  both  houses  in  thirty 
minutes  by  the  watch.  The  only  question  connected  with  territories  in 
which  I  felt  any  interest  was  that  General  "Terry"  should  be  left  to 
manage  the  "Tories"  in  Richmond  according  to  their  respective  merits. 

If  the  record  of  my  life  should  hereafter  be  deemed  worthy  of  a  chap 
ter  in  history,  it  would  contribute  a  singular  paragraph  that  would  read 
thus :  The  Legislature  of  his  state  was  just  about  to  elect  him  to  a  seat  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  but  it  unfortunately  happened  that  just 
iit  that  time  a  meeting  of  his  fellow-citizens  invited  him  to  address  them, 
which  he  respectfully  declined,  with  his  "thanks"  to  the  meeting  for  the 
compliment,  which  was  deemed  so  offensive  to  his  friends  that  they  aban 
doned  the  idea. 

But  you  say,  "It  is  due  to  myself  and  my  many  warm  friends  that  I 
should  clearly  define  my  position."  If  I  could  live  to  the  age  of  "Me 
thuselah,"  when  would  the  necessity  cease  for  defining  my  position?  1 
see  other  public  men  pass  through  a  long  life  of  public  service  without 
ever  once  being  called  on  by  their  friends  to  define  their  position,  and 
when  their  enemies  take  them  to  task,  and  hold  them  up  to  public  cen 
sure,  their  friends  are  never  backward  in  coming  to  their  defense  and  de 
fining  it  for  them.  Not  so  with  me  and  my  friends ;  they  have  always 
lent  a  too  ready  ear  to  the  tales  of  our  common  enemies.  Is  this  because 
I  have  been  a  doubtful  man — one  who  halted  and  hesitated,  waiting  to 
catch  the  popular  breeze  before  I  took  my  position,  and  who,  having  taken 
it,  was  not  to  be  relied  upon  for  holding  and  maintaining  it  ?  I  do  not 
think  the  record  of  my  life  would  justify  this  lack  of  confidence  on  the 
part  of  my  friends.  I  believe  my  worst  enemies  entertain  no  such  opinion 


APPENDIX.  347 

But  my  views  have  been  quite  fully  expressed  in  a  publication  which  I 
had  the  honor  to  inclose  to  you  and  other  friends,  headed,  "A  Few  Plain 
Political  Axioms,"  etc.,  upon  the  present  condition  of  men  and  things  in 
the  South,  and  in  Virginia  in  particular,  and  now  let  me  define  my  posi 
tions  on  the  points  involved  in  that  document  without  waiting  to  be  called 
on  for  it. 

If  there  was  a  man  in  the  South,  except  thoso  who  stood  in  fear  of  the 
consequences  of  their  treason,  that  desired  more  earnestly  than  others  the 
restoration  of  the  states,  with  all  their  former  power  and  grandeur,  to 
commence  the  laborious  task  of  reconstructing  their  dilapidated  fortunes, 
and  that  the  misguided  men  who  had  forfeited  their  lives  and  their  prop 
erty  to  the  government  by  the  commission  of  the  highest  crime  known  to 
the  laws  of  the  nations  of  the  world  should  be  restored  to  rights  which 
they  had  forfeited,  and  to  which  before  they  received  their  pardons  they 
set  up  no  pretensions  to — I  say  if  any  one  man  in  the  South  desired  this 
as  much,  or  more  than  any  other,  I  might  set  up  a  strong  claim  to  being 
that  man ;  and  I  certainly  do  claim  to  have  spent  more  time,  labor,  and 
money  in  procuring  pardons,  and  in  getting  prisoners  released,  than  any 
other  one  man  who  did  not  receive  any  compensation  for  his  services,  and 
that  I  never  did,  even  to  the  payment  of  my  expenses,  or  any  part  there 
of;  and  after  I  found  that  the  most  obnoxious  had,  through  the  power  of 
the  purse,  obtained  their  pardons,  I  urged,  again  and  again,  a  general 
and  universal  amnesty. 

At  the  earnest  entreaty  of  his  almost  broken-hearted  wife,  I  visited 
Washington  three  times  to  procure  the  release  of  Mr.  Seddon  from  his 
confinement,  that  he  might  be  restored  to  his  family  on  parole  for  the  re 
covery  of  his  health  •  and  what  of  justice,  not  to  say  of  thanks,  have  I  re 
ceived  from  his  party  friends  ? 

Notwithstanding  the  views  set  forth,  in  the  political  axioms  I  have  in 
troduced  were  those  that  my  best  judgment  commended  from  the  first  as 
the  only  true  and  lawful  mode  of  the  settlement  of  the  various  questions 
involved,  yet  I  held  them  back  from  an  anxiety  to  co-operate  with  Mr. 
Johnson  in  good  faith  in  his  plan  of  reconstruction  ;  if  the  pardons  were 
not  issued  or  granted  under  constitutional  authority,  I  was  willing  to  ac 
quiesce  in  them  ;  if  those  who  had  been  engaged  in  rebellion,  and  had  be 
come  citizens  of  another  government  "de  facto,"  were  to  be  recognized  as 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  I  was  content  not  to  complain ;  and  if  this 
and  the  preceding  so-called  legislative  bodies  under  the  Alexandria  Con 
stitution  were  to  be  regarded  by  others  as  lawfully  constituted  or  consti- 


348  APPENDIX. 

tutionally  organized,  I  was  willing,  with  others,  to  overlook  all  irregulari 
ties  and  informalities  in  non-essentials ;  but  all  this  I  acquiesced  in,  be 
cause  I  hoped  that  the  pardoned  secessionists  would  display  a  degree  of 
gratitude  and  generosity  in  harmony  with  their  apparent  humility,  in  re 
turn  for  the  forbearance  and  generosity  with  which  they  had  been  re 
ceived  by  the  men  whom  they  would  have  driven  from  the  state,  or  exe 
cuted  in  a  summary  manner,  if  they  had  been  successful  in  overthrowing 
the  government ;  but  this  hope  has  been  far  from  realization. 

I  believe  if  there  was  any  one  thing  intended  by  the  people  at  their  last 
elections  to  be  more  emphatically  expressed  than  another,  it  was  that  the 
conduct  of  the  government  should  be  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  those  by 
whom  they  had  been  so  woefully  deceived,  and  place  the  state  in  conserv 
ative  hands ;  and  I  believe,  moreover,  that  you  have  had  all  the  winter  a 
majority  in  the  two  branches,  but  especially  in  the  lower  House,  a  clear 
majority  of  members  ready  to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  people,  but,  for 
the  want  of  organization,  concert  of  action,  and  a  bold,  intrepid  leader, 
the  advantage  of  that  majority  has  been  thrown  away.  In  all  political 
organizations  a  good  leader  is  just  as  important  as  a  good  general  in  the 
field  ;  yet,  with  this  strength  in  the  body,  we  have  seen  it  led  by  a  few  flip 
pant  lawyers  and  practiced  Parliamentarians,  to  the  infinite  injury  of  the 
state  and  disappointment  of  the  people. 

If  there  has  been  the  first  indication  of  loyalty,  forbearance,  or  generos 
ity  manifested  either  by  the  press  or  by  those  who  have  thrust  themselves 
into  high  places  forbidden  by  the  Constitution,  beyond  what  might  well 
be  called  "  lip  service,"  I  have  failed  to  perceive  it.  On  the  contrary,  I 
have  seen  Union  men  who  had  been  appointed  to  offices  by  Governor 
Pierpont,  whose  power  has  been  reduced,  as  our  friends  the  Yankees  would 
say,  "to  the  leetle  end  of  nothing  whittled  down  to  a  point,"  to  serve  them, 
and  who  is  now  treated  with  scorn  and  contempt,  not  to  use  harsher  terms, 
by  those  for  whom  he  has  made  this  sacrifice — I  say  I  have  seen  the  men 
who  filled  their  offices  respectably  and  responsibly  brought  out,  one  by 
one,  day  after  day,  for  the  keen  whetted  knife  of  the  secession  guillotine, 
to  be  decapitated  as  fast  as  they  could  be  brought  to  the  block,  and  their 
places  supplied  from  the  secession  ranks  in  every  instance,  and  generally 
by  men  less  qualified  than  those  removed,  while  Mr.  Taylor,  the  auditor, 
a  secessionist,  and  one  of  Governor  Pierpont's  appointees,  was  unanimous 
ly  confirmed  in  his  place. 

I  have  seen  that  so-called  legislative  body,  as  if  in  derision  and  con 
tempt  of  the  Constitution,  and  in  the  absence  of  all  proper  respect  for 


APPENDIX.  349 

t 

public  opinion,  and  for  the  authorities  in  whose  power  the  state  is  still 
held,  and  as  if  to  provoke  the  resentment  of  that  power,  and  to  drive  all 
conservative  men  in  Congress  into  the  ranks  of  what  is  called  the  Radical 
party,  and  thus  to  retard  restoration  or  reconstruction,  to  the  great  injury 
of  the  whole  state  and  of  the  South,  and  as  if  in  derision,  contempt,  and 
defiance  of  the  civil  and  military  authorities,  that  the  best  interests  of  all 
required  should  be  conciliated  and  harmonized — I  have  seen  that  body  in 
the  first  stage  of  their  organization  select  a  gentleman  (well  qualified  in 
all  other  respects,  no  doubt)  as  their  presiding  officer,  who  was,  perhaps, 
more  obnoxious  to  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution  than  any  other 
member  of  the  body,  as  he  held  both  a  military  commission  and  the  office 
of  member  of  Congress  under  the  Confederate  government  throughout  the 
war,  when  it  was  expressly  declared  by  the  Constitution  that  "No  person 
shall  hold  any  office  under  this  Constitution  who  shall  not  have  taken 
and  subscribed  an  oath  to  the  following  effect : 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  as  the  supreme  law  of 
the  land,  any  thing  in  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Virginia, 
or  in  the  ordinances  of  the  Convention  which  assembled  at  Richmond  on 
the  thirteenth  day  of  February,  1861,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding ; 
and  that  I  will  uphold  and  defend  the  government  of  Virginia  as  restored 
by  the  Convention  which  assembled  at  Wheeling  on  the  eleventh  day  of 
June,  18G1,  and  that  I  have  not,  since  the  first  day  of  January,  1864,  vol 
untarily  given  aid  or  assistance  fn  any  way  to  those  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  same,"  etc. 

And  which  Constitution  also  provides  that  "No  person  shall  vote  or 
hold  office  under  this  Constitution  who  has  held  office  under  the  so-called 
Confederate  government,  or  who  has  been  a  member  of  the  so-called 
Confederate  Congress,  or  a  member  of  any  State  Legislature  in  rebellion 
against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  "yet  without  he  or  any  mem 
ber  of  the  body  having  taken  this  oath,  and  in  defiance  of  these  provisions 
of  the  Constitution,  as  if  to  brave  public  opinion,  and  challenge  the  re 
sentment  alike  of  the  civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  United  States, 
place  this  gentleman  in  the  chair  as  a  fit  representative  of  the  loyalty  of 
the  state.  I  have  seen  a  nomination  made  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee  as 
Governor  of  Virginia,  which  met  with  the  applause  of  the  House  as  well 
as  the  gallery,  when  the  only  claim  of  General  Lee  upon  the  state  was 
that  he  fought  for  four  years  for  the  overthrow  of  his  country.  I  have 
seen  resolutions  adopted  by  this  body,  as  an  exhibition  of  their  loyalty, 


350  APPENDIX. 

» 

which  carefully,  perhaps,  express  no  word  of  loyalty  to  the  Union  or  the 

government  of  the  United  States,  but  only  to  the  reconstruction  policy  of 
Mr.  Johnson,  by  which  they  hope  soon  to  be  admitted  without  restriction 
into  the  Union,  with  the  nominator  of  General  Lee  at  the  head  of  this 
committee,  who,  in  his  address  to  the  President,  vouched  for  the  loyalty 
of  the  people  of  Virginia  in  the  following  language  :  "In  declaring  that 
the  people  of  Virginia  accept  and  abide  by  the  results  of  the  late  contest, 
and  that  they  intend  in  good  faith  to  meet  all  the  obligations  thereby  in 
curred,  the  General  Assembly  express  a  sentiment  and  a  purpose  which 
have  been  uniformly  recognized  by  our  people,  individually  and  in  masses, 
and, in  regard  to  which,  there  is  no  hesitation  or  division  in  all  Virginia;" 
while  General  Lee  testified,  as  I  learn  from  other  witnesses  who  had  been 
summoned,  and  were  present,  to  a  very  equivocal  loyalty  of  the  people, 
rather,  in  the  fashion  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Virginia  Legislature,  in  the 
form  of  devotion  to  Mr.  Johnson's  policy  of  reconstruction  than  to  the 
Union. 

Here,  then,  is  a  strange  conflict  between  the  representations  of  the  com 
mittee  and  of  the  statement  of  their  chief,  who  rather  seems  to  concur  in 
the  substance  of  the  resolutions  than  in  the  representations  of  the  com 
mittee.  I  should  think,  from  what  I  learn,  that,  according  to  General 
Lee's  opinion,  the  loyalty  of  the  state  is  by  no  means  to  be  depended 
upon  ;  rather,  that  it  is  equivocal  and  contingent,  dependent  upon  circum 
stances.  Now  which  version  of  the  loyalty  of  the  people  is  the  country  to 
accept  ?  for  myself  I  adopt  neither.  "Aey  are  not  all  loyal,  nor  are  they 
all  disloyal.  I  believe  the  element  of  disloyalty  predominates,  but  among 
the  masses  of  the  people,  those  who  had  least  to  gain  and  most  to  suffer, 
the  men  who  carried  the  musket  and  the  sabre,  and  did  the  hard  fighting 
(for  the  benefit  of  the  politicians,  who,  for  the  most  part,  sought  "bomb 
proof"  positions  in  the  army,  or  safety  from  the  enemy  in  the  legislative 
halls  and  editorial  chairs,  and  other  soft  places),  they  have  had  enough  of 
war,  and  can  not  be  easily  dragooned  into  another ;  and,  if  let  alone  by 
the  press  and  other  leaders,  or  if  protected,  as  they  have  a  right  to  be,  by 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  would  by  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  proclaim  their  loyalty  in  trumpet  tongues  to  the  world. 

There  are  two  points  upon  which  Mr.  Johnson  has  expressed  himself 
very  pointedly  and  emphatically.  The  first  point  was  that  "  treason  was 
a  crime  to  be  punished,  and  that  traitors  must  be  hung."  Do  gentlemen 
conceive  this  to  be  a  part  of  his  policy  ?  If  so,  I  think  it  is  a  part  they 
will  not  insist  upon.  The  last  was  that  "if  there  were  five  thousand,  or  a 


APPENDIX.  351 

smaller  number  of  loyal  men  in  a  state,  that  they  were  entited  to  govern 
it  aud  fill  all  the  offices."  This,  I  take  it,  is  a  part  of  the  policy  that  he 
will  insist  upon ;  and  the  sooner  those  who  have  usurped  the  powers  pro 
hibited  by  the  Constitution  prepare  for  it,  the  sooner  will  the  balance  of 
Mr.  Johnson's  policy  be  carried  out. 

I  have  seen  it  stated  in  a  Richmond  paper,  and,  I  suppose,  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  committee,  that  when  one  of  the  gentlemen  (Mr.  Grattan) 
was  asked  by  the  Reconstruction  -Committee  whether  a  jury  could  be 
found  in  Virginia  that  would  convict  Jefferson  Davis  of  treason,  he 
promptly  answered  "No!"  which  was  afterward  qualified  by  saying,  "that 
as  Richmond  always  contained  a  large  number  of  Union  men,  such  a 
jury  might  be  found  there,"  but  of  course  nowhere  else  in  the  state.  This 
statement  was  also  confirmed  by  General  Lee,  as  I  learn. 

I  have  seen  this  same  Legislature  overstepping  its  legitimate  bounds, 
usurping  the  functions  of  the  courts,  with  Argus  eyes  peering  over  the 
state  for  another  victim,  to  satiate  their  rapacity,  and  stretching  out  its 
Briarian  arms  to  strike  at  a  Union  railroad  president,  in  order  to  put  a 
secession  president  in  his  place.  I  do  not  mean  by  this  to  express  any 
opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  this  unfortunate  controversy — unfortunate  for 
the  interests  of  the  stockholders  and  the  state — but  I  do  mean  to  say  that, 
in  my  opinion,  the  Legislature  had  no  right  to  interfere  in  the  matter,  and 
that,  if  Mr.  Barbour  felt  aggrieved,  his  remedy  was  to  appeal  to  the  prop 
er  judicial  tribunals  for  relief;  and  I  mean  to  say,  moreover,  that  he  ex 
hibits  an  extraordinary  degree  of  credulity  and  simplicity  who  believes 
that  if  Mr.  Barbour  had  been  the  Union  candidate,  and  Mr.  Jamieson 
the  secession  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  the  Orange  and  Alexandria 
Road,  that  he  would  have  been  able  to  obtain  the  same  proceedings  from 
this  body  calling  itself  the  Legislature  of  Virginia.  I  have  seen  that  Mr. 
Alexander  Stephens,  himself  but  yesterday  steeped  up  to  his  eyelids  in  se 
cession  and  rebellion  (which  in  April,  1861,  in  a  speech  delivered  in  Rich 
mond,  he  said  had  been  forced  upon  the  South,  and  that  the  South  had 
the  right  on  their  side),  and  who  has  just  been  elected  to  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  because  of  his  participation  in  the  rebellion,  declaring 
in  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  Washington  that  "the  condition  and  persecu 
tion  of  the  Union  men  in  Georgia  are  vastly  worse  than  during  the  rebel 
lion." 

I  have  seen  application  after  application,  and  memorial  after  memorial 
coming  up  to  Congress  from  Union  men  in  nearly  all  the  so-called  re 
constructed  states,  complaining  of  the  bad  treatment  and  violence  done  to 


352  APPENDIX. 

them  by  the  secession  element  of  their  several  localities.  I  myself  have 
been  almost  daily  in  receipt  of  letters  for  the  last  two  months,  saying  that 
they  are  looking  to  me  to  do  something  to  stay  the  hand  of  this  prescrip 
tive  and  intolerant  party  in  this  state,  and  praying  that  I  will  come  to 
their  relief. 

I  have  seen,  too,  those  men  whom  a  becoming  modesty,  and  a  com 
mendable  diffidence  of  their  capacity  and  pretensions  to  govern,  after  the 
events  of  the  last  four  years,  would  have  kept  at  least  for  a  time  in  the 
background,  rushing  with  hot  haste  to  assert  their  own  indestructible  and 
inalienable  right,  as  if  by  Divine  injunction,  to  govern  aud  control,  by 
thrusting  themselves  into  places  they  had  no  constitutional  right  to  fill, 
and  grasping,  with  greedy  hand,  at  every  high  and  petty  office  for  those 
whose  claims  rested  alone  on  the  fact  of  their  service  in  the  rebel  cause. 
I  have  seen  men  wheedling  and  cajoling  President  Johnson  in  the  "press, 
in  public  meetings,  and  in  the  legislative  halls,  who,  when  they  get  him 
in  their  power,  will  measure  out  to  him  the  same  allowance  that  they  have 
to  Governor  Pierpont  for  the  unpardonable  sin  of  having  been  a  Southern 
Union  man  during  the  rebellion,  all  of  which  is  set  forth  and  fully  avowed 
by  that  infamous,  mischievous,  and  treasonable  sheet,  the  New  York  Daily 
Neics,  which  would  lead  the  South  to  her  still  deeper  ruin  and  degrada 
tion,  and  which  has  a  larger  circulation,  is  more  extensively  read,  is  sought 
after  with  greater  avidity  throughout  the  South  than  any  other  paper  in 
the  United  States,  and  which  is  regarded  as  the  most  faithful  organ  of 
the  disloyal  element  of  the  South,  when  it  says  of  the  Hon.  Joshua  Hill, 
of  Georgia, 

' '  Never  can  he  represent  there  or  elsewhere  the  brave  and  gallant  men 
of  Georgia.  They  know  better  than  to  intrust  the  honor  of  their  dead  and 
the  interests  of  the  living  to  such  as  he.  Men  do  not  trust  those  who 
have  been  false  to  them  in  the  hour  of  danger  and  darkness.  The  South 
ern  people  never  will,  never  can  confide  in  those  who,  born  among  them, 
or  living  in  their  midst  during  the  dark  and  stormy  days  of  their  grand 
struggle,  prayed,  or  sighed  at  least,  for  the  success  of  the  foe,  and  for  the 
ruin  and  devastation  of  the  houses,  and  temples,  and  fields  of  the  South, 
and  for  that  fearful  oppression  beneath  which  these  people  are  now  stag 
gering  and  groaning." 

Here,  then,  is  the  edict  that  has  gone  forth  from  the  fountain-source,  the 
law-maker  and  the  lawgiver  of  secession  depravity,  the  fate  that  awaits 
all  good,  true,  and  loyal  men,  who  stood  by  their  country  in  the  country's 
peril,  and  hazarded  fortune,  liberty,  and  life  in  its  defense,  as  did  Andrew 


APPENDIX.  353 

Johnson  in  Tennessee  during  the  great  strife  and  struggle  for  the  life  of 
the  nation,  and  for  the  liberties  of  mankind  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  per 
petuation  of  the  power  of  Southern  Democracy  on  the  other.  And  all 
this  we  are  asked  to  receive  as  unmistakable  evidence  of  a  purpose  on  the 
part  of  4he  conquered  to  do  full  justice,  and  to  extend  a  full  measure  of 
mercy  and  forbearance  to  their  conquerors  in  the  great  conflict  and  strike 
for  higher  wages  through  -which  we  have  just  passed.  In  this  is  fore 
shadowed  the  fate  of  Mr.  Johnson,  whom  they  now  smother  Avith  caresses, 
and  stuff  with  professions  of  loyalty  to  him,  if  he  should  ever  have  the  mis 
fortune  to  fall  into  their  forgiving  and  merciful  arms. 

Now  to  all  this  I  answer  in  the  vulgar  vernacular  of  the  day,  ' '  Nary  a 
time,"  if  you  please.  I  have  patiently  submitted  to  the  control  of  that 
Democracy  for  thirty-five  years  that  at  last  brought  ruin  and  desolation 
upon  the  country,  and,  for  the  last  four  years,  whose  civil  and  military 
power  has  trampled  with  an  iron  heel  upon  every  class  of  its  citizens,  until 
it  has  turned  "the  fair  and  sunny  fields  of  the  South"  into  a  general 
grave-yard  or  a  desolate  waste.  To  all  this  I  have  submitted,  because  I 
had  no  remedy,  and  could  not  help  myself  or  others.  But  now  I  can  ;  I 
have  a  remedy.  I  can  help  myself  and  all  other  good  men  at  the  same 
time  ;  and  I'll  do  it.  As  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  I'll  do  it,  if  the  devo 
tion  of  all  my  energies,  and  half  that  I  am  worth,  will  effect  it.  And  as 
for  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  I  have  not  cared  a  pin  for 
one,  except  that  I  thought,  as  others  seemed  to  think,  I  could  serve  the 
best  interests  of  the  state  by  being  there.  But  I  would  forfeit  forty  seats 
in  the  Senate,  ay,  the  Presidency  itself,  if  it  were  offered  to  me  to-morrow, 
sooner  than  see  that  element  of  secession  Democracy  raised  to  power 
again,  except  that  such  a  position  would  enable  me  to  crush  it  the  more 
effectually  than  by  any  other  means. 

And  now  I  have  to  say  that  I  have  not  met  with  the  first  man,  the  first 
lawyer,  or  the  first  statesman  who  does  not  subscribe  to  the  general  propo 
sitions  as  set  forth  in  the  axioms  I  have  presented  in  regard  to  the  true 
status  of  those  lately  in  rebellion,  with  the  exception  of  one  point  only. 
I  have  found  some  who,'  without  inquiry  or  investigation,  have  rather 
taken  it  for  granted  that  the  power  of  the  President  to  pardon  might  be 
exercised  before  trial  and  conviction  ;  but  this  idea  seems  to  have  arisen 
from  the  fact  that  Blackstone  and  other  commentators  of  the  English  law 
recognized  the  plea  of  pardon  in  bar  of  an  indictment,  and  that  such  had 
been  the  practice  under  the  British  government ;  and  it  is  well  known  that 
this  power  has  been  claimed  as  one  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  king ;  but  I 


354  APPENDIX. 

fancy  it  will  be  found  that  the  prerogatives  of  the  king  have  little  to  do 
with  the  powers  of  a  president,  tied  down  by  constitutional  enactments, 
in  this  country.  With  us  the  case  has  never  arisen  that  would  lead,  (5r 
rather  has  led,  to  an  adjudication  of  the  Supreme  Court,  or  of  any  Federal 
court.  That  such  powers  have  been  exercised  in  extreme  cases  by  some 
of  the  state  governors,  I  am  aware,  though  I  do  not  know  under  what  par 
ticular  phraseology  of  their  State  Constitutions ;  but,  I  am  informed,  it 
has  never  met  with  the  approval  of  the  best  legal  men  in  those  states 
where  it  has  occurred. 

The  best  and  only  authority  I  have  been  able  to  find  is  contained  in  the 
legal  opinions  of  the  several  law  officers  of  the  United  States,  as,  for  ex 
ample  :  Mr.  Attorney  General  Wirt,  March  20, 1820,  says,  "The  King  of 
England  grants  conditional  pardons  by  the  common  law.  We  have  no 
common  law  here.  There  is  nothing  in  the  force  of  the  term  pardon 
which  implies  a  previous  condemnation.  A  pardon  presupposes  an  of 
fense — nothing  more.  But  where  a  pardon  is  granted  on  the  voluntary 
confession  of  one  who  has  not  been  indicted,  the  confession  should  be  in 
writing,  and  the  ft ar don  founded  on  the  specific  offense  confessed;  in  other 
words,  it  should  be  a  special  pardon,  so  as  not  to  protect  the  party  against 
a  prosecution  for  any  more  aggravated  offense  than  he  has  thought  proper 
to  confess.  And  it  would  be  proper  to  suggest  farther  that  it  would  be 
much  safer,  as  a  general  rule,  to  require  a  previous  trial  and  condemna 
tion,  because  all  previous  pardons  must  be  granted  on  ex  parte  representa 
tions,  by  which  the  President  may  be  deceived.  The  latter  course,  too, 
so  far  as  I  am  informed,  is  more  consonant  with  the  general  practice  both 
of  the  state  and  federal  government." 

Upon  this  opinion  of  Mr.  Wirt  I  will  here  remark,  that  this,  as  in  all  the 
cases  to  which  I  shall  refer,  related  to  offenses  of  a  minor  character,  and, 
farther,  that  I  apprehend  in  none  of  the  cases  in  which  pardons  have  been 
granted  by  President  Johnson  has  there  been  a  confession  of  guilt,  and 
especially  of  the  crime  of  treason  ;  and  that  if  there  was,  that  confession 
in  the  case  of  treason,  as  required  by  the  Constitution,  must  be  in  open 
court.  I  have  had  occasion  to  read  a  very  large  number  of  those  applica 
tions  for  pardon,  and  I  have  never  seen  any  such  confession  in  any  of 
them ;  but  they  usually  represent  that  they  are  excluded  from  the  bene 
fits  of  the  amnesty  oath  under  such  or  such  a  clause  of  the  proclamation 
of  the  29th  of  May,  1865— generally  the  $20,000  clause,  as  it  was  called 
— and  ask  to  be  pardoned  for  that ;  so  that  Mr.  Wirt's  opinion  would  be 
clearly  against  the  exercise  of  the  power  in  all  such  cases  as  these. 


APPENDIX.  355 

Attorney  General  Bcrrian,  October  12,  says,  "A  variety  of  considera 
tions  seem  to  me  to  render  it  inexpedient  generally  to  interpose  the  par 
doning  power  previous  to  trial.  It  is  not  denied,  however,  that  cases  may 
exist  in  which  such  an  interposition  would  be  proper. " 

Of  course,  Mr.  Berrian  must  be  presumed  to  refer  to  minor  and  unim 
portant  cases,  in  which  the  public  interest  and  safety  would  not  suffer, 
where  there  were  greatly  extenuating  circumstances  or  doubt  about  the 
guilt  of  the  parties,  when  he  speaks  of  cases  that  MAY  EXIST*. 

Attorney  General  Gushing,  April  15,  1853,  says,  "The  President  has 
the  power  to  pardon  before  conviction.  But  there  must  be  satisfactory 
evidence  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  party ;  and  it  has  been  held  unwise  and 
inexpedient,  as  a  general  rule,  to  interpose  the  pardoning  power  in  an 
ticipation  of  trial  and  condemnation,  although  particular  circumstances  may 
exist  to  justify  such  an  exceptional  act  on  the  part  of  the  President." 

Recollect  that  none  of  these  cases  had  reference  to  any  crime  of  a  very 
serious  nature  where  it  is  said  cases  may  exist,  or  particular  circumstances 
may  exist,  etc.,  etc. 

But  I  have  reserved  the  most  important  and  authoritative  opinion, 
against  which  no  Southern  Democrat  can  raise  his  voice,  for  the  last. 
December  28,  1831,  Attorney  General  Roger  B.  Taney  said,  "I  do  not, 
however,  agree  with  you  in  deriving  this  power  (to  discontinue  judicial 
proceedings)  to  the  President  from  that  clause  in  the  Constitution  which 
authorizes  him  to  grant  pardons  and  reprieves.  This  is  a  specific  grant 
of  power  which  can  not  be  extended  beyond  the  fair  import  of  the  words. 
He  can  pardon  or  reprieve  only  when  an  offense  against  the  law  has  been 
established  by  proof"  (legal  proof,  of  course)  "or  by  the  admission  of  the 
party"  (in  open  court,  of  course,  as  in  the  case  of  treason),  "  and  the  penalty 
thereby  incurred" 

I  can  not  find  or  hear  of  a  case  in  which  in  any  Federal  court  the  ques 
tion  has  been  adjudicated  whether  a  pardon  can  properly  be  granted  by 
the  President  before  trial  and  conviction,  and  the  attorneys  quoted  above 
would  all  seem  to  think  not,  as  a  general  rule.  Mr.  Wirt  thinks  the 
confession  should  be  in  writing,  and  the  pardon  founded  on  the  specific 
offense  confessed  ;  in  other  words,  says  Mr.  Wirt,  it  should  be  a  special 
pardon,  so  as  not  to  protect  the  party  against  a  prosecution  for  a  more 
aggravated  offense  than  he  has  thought  proper  to  confess. 

The  question  may  well  be  asked,  What  offense  have  any  of  these  recon 
structed  gentlemen  confessed  ?  That  they  have  been  guilty  of  treason  ? 
Surely  not,  for  they  deny  it ;  they  have  only  confessed  that  they  were  ex- 


350  APPENDIX. 

eluded  from  the  benefits  of  the  proclamation  of  May,  18G5,  by  such  or 
such  a  clause — and  most  generally  the  $20,000  clause— and  it  will  be 
found  that  it  is  their  property  that  has  been  pardoned,  which,  in  the  lan 
guage  of  Mr.  Wirt,  can  not  protect  them  against  a  prosecution  for  the 
more  aggravated  crime  of  treason. 

Mr.  Berrian  and  Mr.  Gushing  both  oppose  the  exercise  of  the  po\ver,  but 
admit  that  cases  may  exist,  or  circumstances  may  exist  to  justify  "such  an 
exceptional  aot, "  and  this  I  am  willing  to  concede.  It  would  not  be  diffi 
cult  to  conceive  a  case  in  which  the  public  interest,  or  justice  to  parties  ac 
cused,  might  justify  a  stretch  of  power,  and  this  is  done  every  day,  perhaps, 
in  every  department  of  the  government ;  but  this  does  not  establish  the 
law  to  be  exercised  in  the  most  flagrant  cases  and  most  aggravated  of 
fenses. 

Attorney  General  Taney,  afterward  Chief-justice,  utterly  denies  the 
power,  and  says  it  can  ONLY  be  exercised  when  an  offense  against  the  law 
has  been  established  by  proof  or  the  confession  of  the  party,  and  the  pen 
alty  thereby  incurred — all  of  which  could  be  reached  only  by  trial  and 
conviction. 

But  since  the  above  was  written  I  have  found  still  better  authority  in  an 
opinion  of  Chief-justice  Marshall,  to  which  all  must  yield  respect,  if  not 
obedience. 

The  opinion  I  found  recorded  in  the  American  Encyclopedia,  under  the 
head  of  pardons. 

"  A  pardon,"  said  Mr.  Marshall,  "is  not  an  act  of  justice,  but  of  grace. 
Pardon  necessarily  implies  punishment,  and  punishment  in  all  well-order 
ed  states,  at  least,  supposes  guilt  ascertained  in  the  due  course  of  law,  and 
justly  visited  with  a  penalty.  *  *  *  The  theory  is  that  the  courts 
have  the  monopoly  of  doing  justice,  that  is,  if  the  impartial  and  exact  ap 
plication  of  law,  which  are  intended  and  supposed  to  dispense  justice,  does, 
in  fact,  accomplish  that  end  ;  so,  theoretically,  it  must  be  assumed  that  he 
is  guilty  whom  the  courts  declare  to  be  so,  and  that  the  penalty  inflicted 
is  justly  inflicted."  He  farther  says,  "The  ultimate  power,  the  real  sov 
ereignty,  whether  it  reside  in  a  king  or  in  the  people,  as  it  is  the  source  of 
the  law,  so  it  would  be  the  source  of  grace  to  him  who  breaks  the  law. 
In  the  forms  of  government  which  have  most  prevailed,  the  crowned 
prince  has  been  regarded  as  sovereign.  In  democratic  states  the  people 
'zV  sovereign.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  gives  the  power  to 
the  President  alone.  Now  a  pardon  presupposes  guilt  and  just  condem 
nation,  and  works  a  suspension  of  the  sentence,  and  defeats  and  annuls  so  FAR 


APPENDIX.  357 

the  law  which  pronounced  it.    But  it  is  the  first  principle  of  the  best  form 
of  government  that  the  law  must  be  supreme. 

"  Now  if  the  judgment  which  the  law  passed  upon  the  offender  con 
sisted  exclusively  in  fine  and  imprisonment  (or  confiscation),  remission  of 
them  does,  in  fact,  restore  him  to  full  enjoyment  of  all  his  civil  rights," 
but  of  course  could  neither  suspend  nor  repeal  the  enactments  of  law, 
such  as  the  test-oath,  nor  override  the  provisions  and  requirements  of  a 
State  Constitution.  But  Judge  Marshall  proceeds:  "but  when  infamy 
attaches,  by  particular  laws,  to  the  conviction,  as  it  does  in  the  case  of 
felonies,  forgiveness  of  the  fine,  and  imprisonment  only,"  as  (confiscation 
of  property)  by  no  means  makes  the  pardoned  equal  with  the  innocent. 
In  short,  the  pardon  is  partial,  or,  it  were  perhaps  better  to  say,  IT  is  NO 

PARDON    AT    ALL. 

Can  any  one  doubt  what  would  be  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
if  any  one  of  these  cases  should  be  carried  up  to  that  court  ? 

Now,  then,  I  may  be  asked  for  what  good  purpose  have  I  opened  up,  or 
propose  to  open  up  these  cases,  and  I  answer,  I  propose  to  show  to  these 
gentlemen  what  is  held  by  some  of  the  best  lawyers  in  this  country  to  be 
sound,  incontrovertible  law  in  their  cases  ;  that  they  are  not  yet  far  enough 
out  of  the  woods  to  put  on  all  these  airs  of  superiority  and  lordly  dicta 
tion  to  those  who  have  rights  in  this  government  superior  to  their  own ; 
to  show  them  that  they  stand  on  dangerous  ground,  with  a  mine  beneath ; 
and  that  they  can  not  and  will  not  be  permitted  to  frown  down,  or  crush 
down,  to  trample  down,  to  vote  down,  to  write  down,  or  to  put  down  in 
any  way  the  Union  men  of  the  South,  who  have  it  in  their  power  to  place 
them  in  a  far  worse  condition  than  they  have  yet  occupied  from  the  be 
ginning  of  the  rebellion,  and  in  a  far  worse  condition  than  they  can  place 
the  Union  men,  either  by  voting  them  out  of  office,  or  otherwise  oppress 
ing  or  harassing  them.  As  for  their  social  distinctions,  let  them  be  kept 
up  to  their  hearts'  content.  Nobody  cares,  I  suppose,  to  associate  with 
any  of  those  who  prefer  other  society.  This  pretension  and  arrogance  is 
too  ridiculous  and  contemptible  to  produce  any  other  feeling  than  that  of 
pity  and  derision.  If  this  disposition  proceeded  from  the  pride  of  the 
conquered,  it  might  bo  respected  ;  but  when  it  proceeds  from  bad  taste, 
bad  temper,  bad  feeling,  and  worse  judgment,  I  should  despise  the  man  or 
woman  who  would  stoop  to  conciliate  it.  They  have  the  right  to  do  it, 
but  those  who  encourage  it  stand  much  in  the  way  of  their  own  interests, 
and  the  interests  of  the  state,  when  we  should  all  work  together  for  the 
common  good ;  but  they  can  be  permitted  no  longer  to  treat  Union  men 


358  APPENDIX. 

with  indignity,  nor  to  stigmatize  them  as  traitors,  for  every  such  Union 
man  has  his  remedy  in  his  own  hands.  If  any  man  calls  me  a  traitor,  or 
thinks  me  one,  I  challenge  him  to  a  trial  of  the  question  ;  let  him  make 
an  affidavit  against  me,  and  I  will  return  the  compliment  to  him,  and 
have  the  question  tried.  I  will  promise  to  plead  no  pardon  in  bar  that  I 
have  crawled  to  the  footstool  of  power  to  solicit. 

Do  you  ask  me  what  this  remedy  is  ?  I  will  tell  you.  Suppose  the 
loyal  men  refuse  to  pay  the  taxes  imposed  hy  the  body  now  in  session — 
and  I  give  timely  notice  now  that  I  will  not  pay  one  dollar  of  tax  imposal 
upon  me — on  the  ground,  first,  that  the  Legislature  is  not  a  lawfully  and 
constitutionally  constituted  body,  and,  second,  that  it  is  composed^  in 
part  of  aliens,  whose  pardons  are  of  no  avail,  and  who  have  no  more 
right  to  tax  me  than  a  Mexican  Legislature  would  have.  The  sheriff 
seizes  my  property,  and  I  apply  to  the  judge  for  an  injunction  and  appeal 
to  the  law  for  protection  ;  he  grants  the  injunction,  and  he  decides  that 
they  did  or  did  not  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  that 
they  were  or  were  not  aliens,  and  that  the  pardons  were  or  were  not  grant 
ed  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  The  case  is 
carried  up  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  from  there  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.  Here  is  a  case  made  for  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
suppose  they  decide  that  the  pardons  are  good  for  nothing.  Then  all  any 
citizen  has  to  do  is  to  go  before  a  magistrate  or  district  judge  of  the  Fed 
eral  court  and  make  oath  that  such  a  party  has  been  guilty  of  treason, 
and  demand  a  warrant  for  his  arrest — and  he  is  bound  to  issue  such  war 
rant — and  bring  him  to  trial,  when  the  pardon  can  be  plead  in  bar,  and 
thus  bring  it  to  the  Supreme  Court  for  adjudication. 

Now  I  want  to  be  understood.  Not  a  pardon  has  been  granted  that 
I  desire  to  see  revoked.  There  is  no  man  that  I  have  cared  to  see  pro 
nounced  an  alien  by  the  law,  provided  full  justice  is  done  to  the  Union 
men,  of  whom  there  are  from  thirty  to  fifty  thousand  in  this  state,  and 
who  would  openly  proclaim  it  if  it  were  not  for  the  terror  of  public  opin 
ion  and  the  fear  of  denunciation  from  the  public  press  ;  but  if  there  were 
but  a  handful,  a  baker's  dozen,  or  if  I  stood  alone,  I  would  demand  it  for 
myself.  Therefore  I  call  upon  every  Union  man  in  the  state,  and  in  the 
South,  to  stand  up  for  their  rights  without  fear,  and  say  to  all  who  would 
withhold  them,  "stand  from  under." 

Of  course  I  must  expect  to  hear  a  general  howl  and  volumes  of  abuse 
from  the  "  reconstructed,"  but  I  am  so  used  to  this  that  it  does  not  hurt ; 
and  if  they  knew  what  contempt  I  feel  for  all  such  trash  they  would  save 


APPENDIX.  359 

their  wrath,  and  bottle  it  up  for  somebody  else  that  would  feel  it  more 
than  I  do.  I  once  heard  it  said  that  if  a  man  throws  a  stone  in  the  dark, 
and  he  heard  a  dog  howl,  you  might  be  sure  it  hit  him.  This  much  in  an 
ticipation  of  what  is  to  come. 

This  thing  has  to  be  stopped,  or  I  pledge  myself  to  bring  the  whole  mat 
ter  to  a  judicial  decision,  as  I  said  before,  if  it  costs  me  half  that  I  am 
worth  in  the  world  if  it  is  not.  "Verbum  sat  inpresenli." 

I  am  very  respectfully  and  truly  your  friend,          JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

THE   SECOND   LETTER. 

On  the  morning  this  letter  was  published  in  Richmond,  "  Mr.  Garnett," 
the  member  of  the  Legislature,  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  rose  to  a  per 
sonal  explanation,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said, 

"  The  letter  being  addressed  to  me,  it  might  be  supposed  that  I  coin 
cided  in  the  opinions,  or  sympathized  in  any  way  with  the  views  expressed, 
neither  of  which  have  my  approbation ;  but  I  repudiate  both  the  one  and 
the  other,"  to  which  the  following  reply  was  made  : 

Auburn,  Culpepper  County,  March  1, 1866. 
To  MUSCOE  GAESETT,  Esq. : 

It  was  very  much  the  habit  of  Mr.  Clay  when  he  offended  his  friends, 
which  he  not  unfrequently  did,  by  way  of  apology,  to  say,  "Well,  if  a 
man  can  not  take  liberties  with  his  friends,  who  the  devil  can  he  take  them 
with?"  I  suppose  it  was  on  this  principle  that,  on  the  24th  ultimo,  you 
took  what  I  must  think  the  most  uncalled-for  and  unwarrantable  liberty 
of  dragging  rne  before  the  legislative  (so-called)  body  to  arraign  me  for 
opinions  expressed  in  a  letter  to  you  in  terms  that  might  well  have  been 
left  to  those  who  set  up  no  pretensions  of  friendship.  It  would  have  been 
quite  time  enough  for  you  to  refuse  to  indorse  for  me  when  I  had  asked 
you  to  put  your  name  on  my  paper.  You  must,  therefore,  excuse  me  for 
acting  on  the  same  principle  with  you,  by  taking  the  same  liberty  you  have 
taken  with  me.  How  long  has  it  been  since  it  was  understood  that  a  per 
son  to  whom  a  letter  was  addressed  was  responsible  for  all  that  the  letter 
contained?  In  what  school  has  such  a  principle  been  affirmed?  God 
forbid  that  I  should  be  held  responsible  for  all  letters  I  receive.  If  I 
were,  I  should  be  for  Mr.  Johnson  and  against  him ;  for  Congress  and 
against  it ;  for  the  emancipation  proclamation  and  against  it ;  for  negro 
suffrage  and  against  it ;  and  for  every  conceivable  shade  of  opinions  that 
can  be  held  by  the  great  number  of  persons  who  think  proper  to  address 
me,  and  furnish  their  views  of  the  multitude  of  vexed  questions  which  agi 
tate  the  public  mind. 


360  APPENDIX. 

I  regret  very  much,  far  more  than  you  say  you  do,  in  your  last  letter  to 
me,  that  you  should  have  felt  yourself  under  the  necessity  of  doing  any 
thing  that  I  think  reflects  no  credit  on  your  discrimination  or  moral  cour 
age,  and  that,  in  the  end,  will,  I  am  satisfied,  operate  far  more  to  your 
disadvantage  than  it  will  to  mine.  For  the  present,  I  am  perhaps  the 
chief  sufferer ;  for  you,  as  my  friend,  being  the  first  to  put  the  ball  in  mo 
tion,  have,  by  your  repudiation,  afforded  the  opportunity  to  others  lately 
professing  friendship  to  introduce  my  name  before  the  same  body,  in  the 
mere  wantonness  of  offensive  insinuation,  upon  a  subject  with  which  I 
had  no  connection,  as  a  corporator  in  a  railroad  bill  of  which  I  had  never 
heard. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  we  have  been  personal  and  political  friends. 
There  have  not  been  a  great  number  in  the  state  from  whom  I  have  had 
more  numerous  and  stronger  professions  of  friendship  than  yourself,  even 
up  to  the  27th  of  February,  three  days  after  you  had  indulged  in  this 
wholesale  repudiation  of  my  entire  views,  etc. 

You  may  be  my  friend  ;  you  say  you  are,  and  I  will  not  doubt  it,  though, 
to  be  entirely  frank  with  you,  I  must  say  you  have  an  extraordinary  and 
somewhat  disagreeable  way  of  showing  it. 

1st.  A  report  is  in  circulation,  or  rather  an  inference  is  drawn,  of  my 
connection  with  the  Alexandria  movement  to  reduce  the  state  to  a  terri 
torial  condition — an  inference  drawn  from  a  circumstance  that  should 
have  led  to  exactly  the  opposite  conclusion — which  you  write  me  is  doing 
me  incalculable  injury,  and  is  likely  to  defeat  (what  you  have  often  written 
and  told  me  constituted  your  chief  object  in  coming  to  the  Legislature),  to 
wit,  my  election  to  the  United  States  Senate.  Possessing  the  evidence 
to  remove  that  inference,  and  to  obviate  that  injury,  you  refuse  to  use  it, 
writing  to  me  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  necessary  to  define  my  position, 
which  definition  you  have  in  your  pocket. 

2d.  When  I  answer  your  letter  through  the  press,  to  do  which,  as 
heretofore  explained,  I  thought  I  had  your  permission  (for  had  I  written 
to  you  privately  again,  I  had  no  assurance  you  would  use  it  otherwise 
than  you  did  the  first),  for  fear  of  being  held  responsible  by  the  dominant 
party  and  their  press,  who  are  aiming  to  drive  you,  and  me,  and  all  of  our 
class  to  the  wall, -and  establish  their  own  superiority  over  us,  you  feel  it 
incumbent  upon  you  to  rise  in  your  place  and  repudiate  what  you  are  not 
called  upon  to  indorse,  and  what  no  man  in  the  world  could  have  held 
you  responsible  for ;  and  then,  in  a  private  letter,  as  if  in  apology  for  this 
injustice,  you  express  your  regret  at  the  "painful  necessity"  that  compelled 


APPENDIX.  361 

you  to  make  the  explanation,  put  some  half  dozen  or  more  far-fetched 
and  unwarrantable  conclusions  as  to  the  objects  and  effects  of  my  propo 
sitions,  such  as  I  had  never  dreamed  of,  and  such  as  it  would  appear  to 
me  that  no  man  of  your  intelligence  could  by  possibility  draw  from  them, 
and  you  conclude  by  saying,  "although  you  can  not  sanction  the  ultra 
views  and  opinions  which  I  have  published,  or  coincide  with  me  in  the 
denunciation  of  our  state  government"  (so-called),  "  you  can  never,  until 
you  forget  all  of  the  past,  cease  to  be  my  true  friend  and  well-wisher." 
Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  you  see  published  in  the  Sentinel,  immediately 
under  your  eye,  a  statement  from  that  fellow  "  Dick  Smith" — I  believe  that 
is  his  name — to  the  effect,  "  No  wonder  Mr.  Garnett  has  been  quick  to  get 
away  from  his  good  friend  as  fast  as  he  could,  and  to  repudiate  loth  him 
and  his  opinions."  This  quotation  docs  attach  the  responsibility  to  you  of 
having  repudiated  me  as  well  as  my  opinions,  and  does  not  coincide  with 
your  letter  to  me ;  yet  you  do  not  choose  to  disclaim  it,  but  leave  the 
world  to  suppose  that  you  have  in  truth  repudiated  y our  friend 'ship  for  me 
as  well  as  the  views  I  have  presented.  You  will  here  permit  me  to  say, 
that  if  I  had  erred  in  my  judgment,  inasmuch  as  my  whole  object  was  to 
prevent  you,  in  company  with  all  Union  men,  from  being  forever  a  pro 
scribed  class,  reduced  to  a  position  of  inferiority  in  this  state  in  all  future 
time,  and  for  which  I  was  disposed  to  make  a  willing  sacrifice  of  myself, 
it  might  have  been  received  with  a  little  more  generosity  and  forbearance 
than  it  seems  to  have  been. 

You  say  you  are  my  friend  !  and  I  repeat  I  will  not  doubt  it :  but  on  this 
score  I  have  the  advantage  of  you.  You  wanted  to  secure  an  office  for 
me  for  the  benefit  of  the  state,  but  I  have  yet  to  see  that  you  made  the  first 
movement  in  that  direction  before  the  body  of  which  you  are  a  member. 
I  labored  to  get  two  for  you — one  for  yourself  and  another  for  your  son. 
I  failed,  it  is  true,  in  both ;  in  the  former,  either  because  the  appointing 
or  nominating  power  did  not  have  as  much  confidence  in  you  as  I  had,  or 
from  a  lack  of  influence  with  him  on  my  own  part ;  the  latter,  I  think, 
would  have  succeeded  in  Washington,  but  for  the  fact  that  the  office 
sought  had  been  discontinued.  Of  this  I  wrote  you  from  Alexandria,  in 
the  same  letter  in  which  I  asked  your  permission  to  answer  yours  through 
the  press  to  me,  which  was  far  more  open  to  you  than  to  me ;  for  while 
there  was  but  one  in  Richmond  that  would  publish  mine  to  you,  all  would 
gladly  have  published  any  repudiation  you  had  to  make  of  me  or  of  my 
opinions. 

Q 


362  APPENDIX. 

Now,  my  friend,  let  us  look  this  matter  straight  in  the  face,  and  see 
what  it  is  you  thus  unqualifiedly  repudiate. 

You  are  either  a  loyal  man  or  you  are  disloyal.  If  you  are  disloyal,  you 
have  woefully  deceived  me,  both  during  the  war  and  since  its  close.  If 
you  are  loyal,  then,  I  say,  you  have  gone  far  beyond  what  you  can  sustain 
yourself  in,  or  be  sustained  in,  either  by  the  loyal  or  disloyal  men  of  the 
state  or  country. 

Your  language,  as  reported  in  the  Republic,  is  that  "the  letter  being 
addressed  to  you,  it  might  be  supposed  that  you  coincided  with  me  in 
opinion,  or  sympathized  in  any  way  with  the  views  I  had  expressed,  nei 
ther  of  which  has  your  approbation,  but  you  repudiate  both  the  one  and  the 
other."  The  construction  put  upon  this  by  the  Sentinel  is  that  you  repu 
diate  both  the  opinions  and  myself.  This  is  flatly  contradicted  by  your 
letter  of  the  27th  ultimo,  to  which  I  have  before  referred  ;  for  to  repudi 
ate  me  before  the  Legislature  and  in  the  public  prints,  and  in  a  private 
communication  to  say  that  "you  would  never  cease  to  be  my  true  friend 
and  well-wisher''' — the  italics  your  own — would  exhibit  a  want  of  candor 
and  sincerity  that  I  can  not  and  will  not  suspect  you  of,  and,  therefore,  I 
must  look  for  some  other  interpretation,  and  the  only  one  it  bears,  as  I  see 
it,  is  that  you  repudiate,  one  and  all,  the  opinions  I  have  expressed  in  my 
axioms  and  in  my  letter  to  you.  Now,  what  are  the  opinions  you  repu 
diate  ? 

My  first  proposition  is,  that  the  right  of  secession  is  not  authorized,  but 
forbidden  by  the  Constitution.  Differing  with  me  on  this,  you  think  se 
cession  is  not  forbidden,  but  authorized  by  the  Constitution. 

My  second  is,  that  the  ordinances  of  secession  were  null  and  void.  You 
think  they  were  not  null  and  void. 

My  third  is,  that  there  can  not  be  thirty-six  different  allegiances  in  the 
United  States,  and  no  one  man  owing  his  first  allegiance  to  the  central  and 
supreme  government.  You  think  there  are  thirty-six  different  allegi 
ances  to  the  thirty-six  states,  and  none  owing  their  allegiance  to  the  only 
power  that  can  make  peace  or  war. 

My  fourth  is,  that  the  states  have  not  been  out  of  the  Union,  and  could 
not  be  carried  out  but  by  successful  revolution.  You  think  the  states 
have  been  out  of  the  Union,  and  the  Union  has  been  dissolved. 

My  fifth  is,  that  any  attempt  to  set  up  a  new  government  within  the 
United  States  hostile  to  it,  by  force  of  arms,  is  treason.  You  think  it  is 
not  treason. 

My  sixth  is,  that  the  right  of  expatriation  and  denationalization  has 


APPENDIX.  363 

never  been  denied  in  this  country,  and  that  the  citizens  thereof  had  the 
right  to  take  themselves  out,  either  individually  or  collectively.  You 
think  that  such  right  has  not  been  recognized,  and  that  they  can  not 
either  expatriate  or  denationalize  themselves.  (I  guess,  then,  these  colo 
nies  that  are  being  prepared  for  Mexico  had  better  be  stopped  at  once.) 

My  seventh  is,  that  the  late  Confederate  government  did  constitute  a 
government  de  facto  (the  Legislature,  I  see,  questions  whether  it  was  not 
one  dejure),  and  that  all  who  assisted  in  creating  that  de  facto  govern 
ment,  or  who  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  it,  thereby  alienated  them 
selves  from  the  government,  renounced  their  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  and  their  claims  to  its  protection,  and  can  become  nationalized 
again  only  by  the  law  of  naturalization  or  by  some  new  law.  You  think 
it  was  not  a  de  facto  government,  and  that  those  who  took  the  oath  of  al 
legiance  to  it  did  not  renounce  their  allegiance,  and  were  entitled  to  the 
protection  of  the  United  States,  and  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  walk,  with 
out  ceremony  or  permission,  out  of  one  government  into  another. 

My  eighth  is,  that  there  is  no  difference  in  the  political  status  of  two 
citizens,  one  of  whom  takes  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  one  de  facto  govern 
ment,  and  the  other,  who  takes  the  same  oath  to  another  de  facto  govern 
ment.  You  think  there  is. 

My  ninth  is,  that  after  the  rebellion  was  put  down,  the  loyal  men  of 
the  rebellious  states  had  a  natural  and  inherent  right  to  take  control  of 
the  government,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  disloyal  men  (which  is  in  accord 
ance  with  the  policy  of  Mr.  Johnson),  and  that  all  the  representatives, 
properly  elected,  and  who  went  to  Washington  prepared  in  good  faith  to 
comply  with  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  country,  should  be  ad 
mitted  to  seats  without  unnecessary  delay.  You  think  that  they  had  no 
such  right,  and  that  Mr.  Johnson's  policy,  which  you  profess  to  sustain  in 
the  resolutions  of  loyalty  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Legislature,  should 
be  overthrown,  and  that  the  states  are  not  entitled  to  be  represented  by 
loyal  men. 

My  tenth  is,  that  as  all  men  are  presumed  innocent  until  they  are  proved 
guilty,  the  power  of  the  President  to  reprieve  and  pardon  commences  aft 
er  the  offense  and  penalty  have  been  ascertained.  You  think  all  men  are 
not  innocent  until  they  are  proved  guilty,  and  that  the  President  can  par 
don  before  the  offense  and  penalty  are  ascertained.  (To  your  dissent  to 
this  latter  conclusion  I  would  not  object,  as  it  may  be  considered  a  dis 
puted  point,  and  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  the  establishment  of  my  gener 
al  propositions.) 


364  APPENDIX. 

My  eleventh  and  twelfth  are,  that  the  attempts  at  reconstruction  are  a 
failure,  and  that  the  shortest  and  best,  if  not  the  only  way  to  get  them  in, 
will  be  for  such  states  as  the  law-making  power  does  not  recognize  as  hav 
ing  been  reconstructed  according  to  law,  should  be  commenced  de  novo, 
under  such  conditions  as  will  enable  them  to  get  in  at  the  earliest  prac 
tical  moment.  You  think  these  efforts  have  not  failed  (Query,  How  many 
states  have  gotten  into  Congress  under  this  policy  ?),  and  that  they  had 
better  stay  out  as  they  are  now,  and  are  likely  to  continue  (under  the  con- 
•  current  resolution  of  the  two  houses,  which  will  surely  pass  the  Senate), 
rather  than  begin  again  and  get  in  at  an  early  day. 

My  thirteenth  is,  that  Virginia  has  been  continuously  a  recognized  gov 
ernment,  and  can  not  now  be  properly  subjected  to  a  military  or  provi 
sional  governor.  You  think  she  has  not  been  a  continuously  recognized 
government  (though  she  had  two  senators  throughout  the  war),  and  that 
she  ought  to  have  a  military  or  provisional  governor,  and  be  treated  as 
those  states  that  did  not  claim  to  be  in  the  Union  during  the  rebellion. 

My  fourteenth  is,  that  as  the  Constitution  declares  that  the  House  of 
Delegates  shall  consist  of  not  less  than  eighty,  and  not  more  than  one 
hundred  and  four,  therefore,  fourteen  in  one  house  and  six  in  the  other 
did  not  constitute  a  lawful  Legislature.  Again,  that  as  the  Constitution 
declares  that  no  person  shall  serve  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature  with 
out  taking  an  oath  therein  prescribed,  and  farther  provides  that  no  person 
shall  vote  or  hold  any  office  whatever  who  has  held  office  under  the  Con 
federate  government,  or  any  state  in  rebellion,  which  oath  no  member  of 
the  Legislature  has  taken ;  and  as  many  of  them  did  hold  office  under 
the  Confederate  or  state  government  in  rebellion,  therefore,  that  the  body 
has  not  been  organized  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution, 
accordingly  all  their  acts  are  null  and  void.  You  think  that  fourteen  in 
one  house  and  six  in  the  other  is  a  sufficient  compliance  with  the  provi 
sions  of  the  Constitution,  and  that  the  oath  prescribed  as  essential  to  the 
qualification  of  each  member  (which  you  well  know  has  not  been  ad 
ministered)  might  be  disregarded  and  set  aside  by  those  who  are  other 
wise  disqualified,  and  that  rebel  officers,  civil  and  military,  could,  under 
the  Constitution,  proceed  to  legislate  as  if  no  such  provisions  had  been  con 
tained  in  the  Constitution,  and  that  their  acts  are  all  legal  and  binding. 

These  are  the  points  of  difference  which  would  appear  to  exist  between 
us,  by  your  universal  repudiation  and  condemnation  of  all  my  views, 
while  I  know,  in  reality,  that  you  entertain  no  such  opinions,  and  that 
there  is  no  such  difference  between  us.  The  truth  \?,  Mr.  Garnett,  you 


APPENDIX.  305 

found  my  axioms  and  letter  offensive  to  the  disloyal  men  with  whom  you 
are  associated,  and  you  lacked  the  moral  courage  to  sustain  them ;  and, 
for  fear  of  a  suspected  acquiescence,  you  incautiously,  inconsiderately, 
and  unnecessarily  repudiated  one  and  all  in  a  breath.  I  say,  moreover, 
that  neither  you  nor  any  other  man  in  the  state,  who  has  a  reputation  to 
lose  or  to  make,  dare  go  before  the  public  upon  these  issftes  as  made  with 
me  by  your  general  repudiation. 

When  I  was  on  a  visit  to  Richmond,  in  the  month  of  January  last,  I 
read  my  axioms  to  many  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  who  did  me 
the  honor  to  call  upon  me,  and  I  said,  "It  is  apparent  to  all  that  this 
Legislature  is  about  to  educate  the  people  into  the  belief  that  treason  to 
the  United  States  is  a  virtue  to  be  rewarded,  and  loyalty  a  crime  to  be 
punished ;  and  if  you  do  not  exert  yourselves,  and  make  a  stand-up  fight 
with  your  adversaries,  this  will  be  the  unavoidable  consequence  of  your 
submission,  and,  as  I  do  not  mean  to  submit  to  any  such  state  of  things, 
I  shall  feel  myself  not  only  at  liberty,  but  bound  to  present  these  axioms 
to  the  public,  as  containing  the  true  solution  of  the  status  of  those  who 
are  struggling  to  place  us  in  a  position  of  inferiority  and  degradation." 
Not  a  man  made  an  objection  to  any  one  axiom  presented  except  to  that 
which  related  to  the  pardons,  upon  which  some  few  remarks  were  made, 
to  the  effect  that  "We  have  got  our  pardons,  and  do  not  want  to  give 
them  up,  and  do  not  mean  to  do  so;"  to  which  I  replied,  "The  loss  of 
your  pardons  is  no  consequence  if  my  propositions  are  adopted,  because 
neither  your  persons  nor  your  property  can  be  disturbed,  under  my  propo 
sitions,  without  trial  and  conviction,  and  certainly  no  loyal  man  need 
stand  in  fear  of  that."  But  they  all  acquiesced  in  the  necessity  of  making 
the  fight,  and  that  an  issue  should  be  presented.  There  are  many  wit 
nesses  to  all  this.  I  left  Richmond,  and  waited  for  three  weeks,  and  no 
issue  was  presented.  The  day  for  adjournment  was  drawing  to  a  close, 
and  I  concluded  that  if  I  waited  until  after  the  adjournment  it  might  be 
said  that  I  had  taken  all  the  chances  of  an  election  to  the  Senate,  and, 
being  disappointed,  I  had  made  war  upon  the  organization  of  the  Legis 
lature. 

I  determined,  therefore,  that  while  I  was  in  "receipt  of  letters  assuring 
me  of  my  election  before  adjournment,"  to  throw  all  chance  of  an  election 
to  the  dogs,  rather  than  remain  passive  and  see  my  own  inferiority  and 
that  of  the  whole  class  of  loyal  men  in  the  state  established,  as  if  by  law, 
and  I  resolved  to  hold  back  no  longer. 

I  claim  that  we  are  entitled  to  occupy  a  position  of  superiority,  but  I 


366  APPENDIX. 

would  have  been  content  with  equality ;  less  than  this  I  will  not  patiently 
or  willingly  submit  to,  and  those  who  would  are  not  political  associates 
for  me,  and  are  welcome  to  go  into  the  ranks  of  the  other  party  ;  but  let 
them  make  no  farther  pretensions  to  loyalty,  or  even  to  equality  with  rebels. 

Now,  to  show  you  how  differently  my  views  are  regarded  by  others  of 
the  loyal  class,  I  subjoin  one  or  two  extracts  from  numerous  letters  re 
ceived. 

The  following  is  from  a  consistent  and  most  respectable  source,  a  Union 
man  from  first  to  last,  who  has  not,  at  any  time,  been  afraid  to  avow  his 
sentiments.  He  says,  "It  is  laughable  to  hear  people,  whose  brains  nev 
er  gave  them  the  headache,  talk  about  the  indiscretion  of  Botts.  *  *  * 
Your  column  of  truth  in  the  Republic,  being  copied  into  so  many  papers, 
must  do  some  good,  and  must  save  us  from  a  Democratic  death  or  seces 
sion  hell.  I  am  delighted  to  hear  the  crack  of  your  whip,  and  beg  you 
not  to  spare  the  lash.  The  illegality  of  the  Legislature  and  unconstitu- 
tionality  of  the  pardons,  and  of  all  their  proceedings,  touches  them  on 
the  raw;  in  fact,  they  feel  deeply  every  word  you  have  written." 

The  following  is  from  one  of  the  most  intelligent,  respectable,  and  re 
sponsible  Union  men  in  the  Southern  States: 

"  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  you  for  your  masterly  and  indignant  recital 
of  the  contumacious  and  disloyal  conduct  and  aims  of  our  Southern  rul 
ers.  I  hope  it  will  arouse  our  friends  every  where.  *  *  *  I  would  have 
preferred  it  should  have  been  done  by  some  other  than  yourself  (so  would 
I,  but  who  was  to  do  it  ?) ;  by  one  who,  like  yourself,  had  the  wisdom  and 
courage  of  Hampden.  *  *  *  I  could  not  feel  otherwise  than  indignant 
at  the  supercilious  repudiation  of  your  opinions  and  feelings  by  your  late 
friend  and  correspondent,  Mr.  Garnett.  I  could  not  have  suspected  any 
one  of  such  meanness.  You  have  had  by  far  too  many  of  such  friends, 
and  it  is  time  for  you  to  discard  them,  and  be  more  wary  of  your  confi 
dence  in  the  future.  Such  a  man  as  Mr.  Garnett  should  have  a  Roland 
for  his  Oliver,"  with  many  more  such  expressions  of  indignation. 

I  quote  these  passages  from  letters  received,  only  to  show  you  that  all 
my  friends  do  not  concur  with  you  in  opinion.  I  repeat,  I  have  no  other 
object  under  the  sun  than  to  secure  fairness  and  justice  to  the  loyal  men 
of  the  South  generally,  and  those  of  this  state  in  particular,  and  until  it 
is  obtained  "I  will  fight  it  out  on  this  line"  to  the  last  resort,  for  which, 
if  you  belong  to  that  class,  you  should  have  given  me  your  thanks  instead 
of  your  rebuke. 

I  know  of  no  man  who  has  had  so  much  reason  as  /to  exclaim,  "Save 


APPENDIX.  367 

me  from  my  friends!"  I  am  willing  to  bear,  and  have  borne,  a  great 
deal  from  some  of  mine,  but  I  am  not  willing  to  be  sacrificed  or  slaugh 
tered  by  them,  or  that  they  should  make  capital  for  themselves  by  endeav 
oring  to  bring  odium  upon  me.  This  is  asking  too  much,  and  a  little 
more  than  I  am  willing  to  yield. 

When  you  have  given  votes,  or  made  speeches  or  reports  that  were  of 
fensive  to  Union  men,  which  you  have  frequently  done  during  the  session, 
did  I  make  haste  to  repudiate  you  or  your  action  ?  No  !  I  did  not  ap 
prove  of  what  you  had  said  or  done,  but  I  offered  a  defense  for  you ;  I 
did  not  justify,  but  palliated,  to  reconcile  those  who  distrusted  you  (as 
seven  tenths  of  my  friends  did)  :  and  this  you  know,  for  you  have  been 
present  when  I  did  it,  and  you  will  recollect  the  acknowledgment  you 
made,  which  I  will  not  repeat,  but  which  might  apply  as  well  to  this  case 
as  to  the  one  then  under  consideration. 

And  now,  Mr.  Garnett,  I  have  given  you  a  Roland  for  your  Oliver,  and 
let  me  assure  you  I  have  said  nothing  here  except  to  defend  myself  from 
your  most  extraordinary,  unprovoked,  and  uncalled-for  assault  upon  me. 
If  I  thought  it  proceeded  from  treachery  or  baseness  of  heart,  as  others 
do,  I  would  drop  you  altogether ;  but  I  do  not  think  this.  I  think  you 
were  put  up  to  it,  and  in  a  moment  of  weakness  you  gave  way  to  the  bad 
counsels  of  interested  men,  who  would  rejoice  at  my  discomfiture.  It  is 
for  you  now  to  say  what  shall  be  our  relation  in  the  future.  I  am  willing 
to  break  even,  let  by-gones  be  by-gones,  and  let  matters  stand  as  before ; 
but  of  this  you  must  determine  for  yourself.  But  I  am  admonished  by 
the  little  Dispatch  that  my  letters  are  always  long,  and  that  the  printers 
dread  me,  which  I  do  not  think  concerns  them  much,  as  I  am  never  per 
mitted  to  trouble  them  in  this  way  except  in  the  form  of  a  paid  advertise 
ment  ;  and,  to  be  frank,  I  could  not  be  content  with  short  paragraphs  like 
one  who  has  a  paper  always  at  his  command,  and  writes  for  it  every  day. 
But  for  any  thing  I  can  now  see,  I  shall  be  under  no  necessity  of  troub 
ling  any  of  them  again  very  soon. 

I  am  respectfully  yours,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

THE   THIRD  LETTER. 

In  continuation,  the  two  letters  below  are  furnished,  as  serving  to  show 
the  real  condition  of  things  as  they  now — spring  of  18GG — exist  in  Vir 
ginia,  under  Mr.  Johnson's  reconstruction  policy. 


308  APPENDIX. 

Auburn,  Culpepper  County,  February  2G,  1SGG. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Republic: 

No  doubt  many  of  my  friends  will  think  it  strange,  and  will  probably 
condemn  me  for  the  position  I  have  assumed  in  the  "axioms"  I  have  pre 
sented,  and  the  letter  following  upon  its  heels,  addressed  to  my  friend, 
Muscoe  Garnett,  Esq.  ;  and  sometimes  I  think  it  a  little  strange  myself, 
that  in  violation  of  what  I  thought  was  an  absolute  determination  on  my 
part,  for  the  last  five  years  of  my  life,  never  again  to  permit  myself  to  take 
an  active  part  in  politics,  that  I  should  now  have  departed  from  it,  and 
placed  myself  once  more  in  the  foreground,  to  receive  all  the  abuse  that 
misapprehension,  ignorance,  stupidity,  and  malevolence  might  direct 
against  me ;  but  when  I  saw  the  incontestible  evidence  of  disloyalty  dis 
played  by  the  press  and  Legislature  of  this  state  daily  exhibited  and  hour 
ly  increasing ;  when  I  saw  Union  men  every  where,  and  under  all  circum 
stances,  overslaughed  and  turned  out  of  office  for  those  who  had  served 
in  the  rebellion ;  when  I  saw  the  people  being  rapidly  educated  to  look 
upon  treason  as  a  virtue,  and  a  passport  to  office,  and  loyalty  a  crime  to  be 
punished ;  when  I  saw,  out  of  all  the  papers  published  in  the  state,  only 
two  or  three,  and  those  of  a  limited  circulation,  remonstrating  or  protest 
ing  against  this  injustice  to  those  who  alone  could  fill  any  office  in  this 
state  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitiition,  which  I  at  first  pro 
nounced  a  second  edition  of  the  "Lccompton  Swindle,"  but  which  has  since 
been  recognized  by  all,  and  under  which  the  present  Legislature  professes 
to  have  met,  and  is  now  acting  ;  when  I  saw  that  the  late  rebel  Legislature 
was  virtually  and  substantially  declared  a  lawful  government,  when,  on 
motion  of  a  very  active  participant  in  the  rebellion,  in  a  bill  that  referred 
to  the  late  state  government,  the  words  "  de  facto"  were  struck  out,  on  the 
ground  that  many  tliouyht  it  a  government  "  de  jure,"  thereby  virtually  le 
galizing  the  rebellion ;  when  I  heard  in  Washington  of  the  overwhelming 
testimony  that  had  been  given  by  the  most  respectable  gentlemen  from 
this  state,  and  from  almost  every  other  Southern  state,  of  the  rapid  in 
crease  of  disaffection  and  disloyalty  among  the  people ;  and  when  officers 
in  command  of  Southern  departments,  of  the  highest  respectability,  and 
of  the  highest  grade  and  distinction,  testifying  to  this  disloyalty,  and  on 
oath  declaring  their  knowledge  of  a  wide-spread  conspiracy  on  foot 
among  the  leaders — not  to  embark  in  rebellion  again,  for  of  that  they  have 
had  quite  enough — but  to  involve  the  country  in  a  foreign  war,  in  order 
that  the  discontented  and  aspiring  politicians  might  have  a  chance  to  cut 
their  way  to  fortune,  and  wipe  out  the  bitter  mortification  with  which 


APPENDIX.  369 

they  are  devoured,  but  which  for  a  time  was  smothered,  all  of  which  you 
will  learn  when  this  testimony  is  laid  before  the  public.  It  is  not  in  my 
nature  to  be  quiet  until  the  net  was  woven  and  the  knot  tied  by  which 
we  were  again  to  be  plunged  into  a  sea  of  calamities  as  we  were  in  18G1, 
when  it  might  be  too  late  to  resist  it.  Seeing  all  this,  I  hesitated  long,  I 
reflected  maturely  on  what  my  duty  required  me  to  do,  and  I  felt  I  should 
bo  no  better  than  a  traitor  to  my  country  and  to  my  party — I  mean  to 
the  Union  sentiment  of  the  South  and  of  the  country,  for  I  belong  to  no 
party — if  I  did  not  endeavor  to  nip  it  in  the  bud. 

So  I  "pitched  in,"  enlisted  once  again  against  the  most  mischievous, 
the  most  reckless,  the  most  untiring  and  persevering,  and  the  most  wicked 
party,  as  I  religiously  believe,  that  the  Almighty,  in  his  infinite  wisdom, 
ever  permitted  to  exist  on  earth.  I  speak  now  of  the  leaders  of  that 
party  as  a  political  organization,  many  of  whom  seem  to  think  the  sun 
would  cease  to  rise  and  shine  if  their  infallible  counsels  were  withheld  from 
the  nation.  Of  what  materials  are  our  people  made,  that  they  do  not 
look  more  clearly  to  their  own  interests  ?  Have  they  not  suffered  enough 
through  the  agency  of  this  same  Democratic  party,  that  they  must  cling 
to  it  and  worship  it  as  if  it  had  delivered  them  from  misery  and  ruin,  in 
stead  of  having  brought  it  upon  them?  Are  my  present  propositions 
more  obnoxious  than  were  my  admonitions  against  the  twenty-first  rule 
(by  which  the  Abolition  party  was  built  up)  in  1841  ?  or  my  opposition 
to  the  annexation  of  Texas  (the  remote  cause  of  the  late  rebellion)  in 
1844?  or  my  opposition  to  the  Mexican  War  in  1845,  '6,  and  '7?  or  my 
warnings  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  (the  immediate 
cause  of  the  rebellion)  in  1854  ?  or  my  urgent  entreaties  against  secession 
in  18G1?  Why,  then,  not  listen  to  me  now?  I  am  only  a  little  in  the 
advance  now,  as  I  was  on  the  above-named  occasions  when  they  respect 
ively  occurred.  Then  all  condemned,  but  afterward,  when  too  late,  all 
approved.  I  am  not  silly  enough  to  apprehend  another  rebellion ;  but  I 
do  fear  the  ascendency  of  this  party  to  power,  and  I  do  fear  that  power, 
if  the  country  should,  by  any  misfortune,  become  involved  in  a  foreign 
war,  which  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  is  anxiously  prayed  for  by  manv 
who  have  recently  taken  the  oath  of  strict  fidelity  to  the  United  States,  as 
contained  in  the  amnesty  oath. 

Now  suppose,  by  any  misfortune  or  any  indiscrimination  on  the  part  of 
the  civil  or  military  authorities  either  in  Washington  or  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
we  should  be  involved  in  difficulty  with  the  French  Empire,  and  these  ex 
tremely  loyal  gentlemen  were  to  invite  the  French  authorities  to  land  a 

Q2 


370  APPENDIX. 

considerable  force  at  some  southern  point — say  Charleston,  Savannah, 
Pensacola,  or  Mobile — and  General  Grant  were  to  attempt  to  resist  them 
with  the  army  of  the  United  States,  who  believes  they  could  reach  the 
point  of  landing,  in  the  present  temper  and  spirit  displayed  ?  They  might 
reach  the  point,  perhaps,  but  would  their  supplies  and  the  materials  of 
war  be  allowed  to  reach  them  ?  Would  not  the  bridges  be  destroyed,  and 
the  rails  torn  up,  etc.  ?  I  believe  if  the  men  did  not  do  it  the  women 
would,  for  they  are  being  educated  to  this  feeling  every  day. 

Now  if  this  feeling  does  not  exist,  why  is  it  that  every  Union  man  is 
sacrificed,  and  every  one  who  was  in  the  rebel  service  taken  care  of? 
Why  is  it  that  if  young  ladies,  who  modestly  and  instinctively  shrink  from 
the  appearance  of  their  names  in  the  public  prints,  and  who  attend  a  social 
party  given  by  United  States  officers,  find  their  attendance  on  the  occasion 
referred  to  in  the  next  day's  paper  in  such  terms  as  to  bring  odium  upon 
them  among  their  former  friends?  I  know  of  a  young  lady  who  was 
brought  up  in  a  strong  secession  family,  and  whose  partialities  were  all 
in  that  direction,  that,  for  the  sake  of  an  evening's  amusement  with  some 
warm  friends,  attended  one  of  these  officers'  "hops,"  and  the  result  was, 
her  old  friends  and  companions  refused  to  recognize  her  when  next  she 
met  them. 

All  profess  to  be  loyal,  and  to  belong  to  the  Union  Church.  Is  it  usual, 
when  one  joins  a  Christian  church,  and  kneels  at  the  communion-table  to 
take  the  Lord's  Sacrament,  for  them  to  treat  with  contumely  and  con 
tempt  those  who  knelt  at  the  same  table  before  them,  and,  if  not,  why  do 
those  who  kneel  at  the  altar  of  the  Union  with  us  give  themselves  airs, 
and  spurn  the  association  and  fellowship  of  those  whom  they  found  at  the 
altar  when  they  came  in?  Does  he  who  joins  a  Masonic  lodge  despise 
his  brother-Masons  because  they  were  Master-Masons  before  he  joined  the 
lodge  ? 

I  know  a  lady  of  Virginia  birth,  but  who  married  in  the  North,  that 
came  to  this  state,  and  went  to  visit  her  friends  and  relatives  in  Rich 
mond  (and  whose  father  was  an  original  and  life-long  secessionist),  having 
no  sentiment  of  resentment  toward  those  who  had  differed  from  her  in 
opinion  ;  not  one  of  her  friends  called  to  see  her,  and  one  of  her  near 
relatives  actually  gave  her  to  understand  that  he  would  not  speak  to  her 
if  she  were  to  visit  his  house ;  and  this  individual  was  one  of  the  class  who 
claim  to  be  "loyal  men"  in  the  present  acceptation  of  the  word,  and  who 
had  taken  the  amnesty  oath,  and  who  has  hitherto  passed  for  a  kind- 
hearted  gentleman. 


APPENDIX.  371 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  together  with  those  enumerated  in  my 
last  letter,  I  determined  to  remain  inactive  no  longer,  and  I  have  enlisted 
for  the  war,  and  "upon  this  line  I  propose  to  fight  it  out;"  not  because,  as 
the  Charlottesville  Chronicle  elegantly  expresses  it,  "  He  had  rather  drive 
a  stage,  hectoring  and  swearing  from  one  tavern-stand  to  another,  than  to 
command  a  man-of-war  and  keep  his  mouth  shut,"  or,  as  the  same  paper, 
with  still  more  refinement,  says,  "Because  he  would  prefer  being  the 
bully  among  half  a  dozen  followers,  to  being  the  leader  of  a  free  and  in 
dependent  party."  I  beg  to  assure  the  editor  of  the  paper  in  question 
that  he  does  me  great  injustice  when  he  thinks  I  could  have  a  taste  for 
stage-driving,  hectoring,  swearing,  or  bullying,  but  I  would  rather  be  dead 
and  in  my  grave,  honored  for  my  manhood,  than  patiently  to  submit  to 
the  wrongs  and  oppressions  which  are  sought  to  be  put  upon  all  of  my 
class,  or  keep  my  mouth  shut  from  compulsion  or  fear ;  that  I  did  not  do 
under  the  Confederate  despotism,  and  I  am  still  less  likely  to  do  it  now ; 
and  for  the  "free  and  independent  party"  in  this  state,  where  is  it  to  be 
found,  for  any  man  of  brains  to  lead,  to  which  I  could  attach  myself  as  an 
humble  follower  ?  If  any  one  will  point  it  out  to  me,  I  will  promise  to  fall 
in  the  rear  rank  of  that  party.  My  highest  aspiration  is  to  see  one  such 
arise,  Phoenix-like,  to  claim  what  they  are  entitled  to  demand.  "I  am 
not  mad,  most  noble  Festus,  but  speak  both  the  words  of  truth  and  sober 
ness." 

When  I  enlisted  in  this  war  I  knew  what  odds  I  should  have  to  en 
counter  ;  I  knew  the  prejudice  I  should  awaken ;  I  knew  the  injustice 
that  would  be  done  my  motives ;  I  knew  the  timidity  of  those  I  was  en 
deavoring  to  serve,  because  I  have  had  to  deal  with  them  before.  I  was 
also  aware  of  the  ignorance  and  stupidity  I  should  meet  with  in  such 
papers  as  the  Petersburg  Index,  the  leading  articles  of  which  have  been 
beneath  contempt,  not  for  the  abuse  of  me  which  has  characterized  them, 
but  for  the  absence  of  all  understanding  and  knowledge  of  the  great  ques 
tions  they  undertake  to  discuss.  I  knew  that  the  small  provincial  papers, 
upon  the  plea  of  "want  of  room,"  would  garble  and  mutilate  my  "  axioms," 
and  give  what  they  call  "a  synopsis,"  but  only  such  a  synopsis  as  suited 
their  purposes,  and  then  reason  from  them ;  all  this  I  knew,  but  I  determ 
ined  not  to  "  keep  my  mouth  shut"  or  my  pen  idle. 

Wait  until  this  "Radical"  Legislature  shall  call  a  convention  to  make 
a  new  Constitution,  which  will  be  composed  of  the  same  set  or  sort  of 
men  that  now  control  the  Legislature,  and  then  we  shall  all  see  where  the 
Union  men  will  be  found ;  and,  therefore,  I  choose  now,  and  just  here,  to 


372  APPENDIX. 

make  an  issue  as  to  the  legality  of  this  body  that,  by  their  recent  unwise 
action,  has  ruined  the  fairest  prospects  of  Richmond,  Petersburg,  and 
Norfolk  for  the  benefit  of  Baltimore  ;  and  I  should  think  every  property- 
holder  and  business-man  in  those  localities  would  rejoice  to  see  this  Leg 
islature  declared  an  unconstitutional  organization  by  the  proper  tribunals 
of  the  country ;  and  it  may  be  of  some  interest  to  them  to  be  informed 
that  this  question  is  likely  to  be  brought  before  the  Federal  courts  by  the 
Northern  stockholders  of  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad,  if  the  ef 
fort  should  be  persisted  in  to  dispossess  the  present  officers  of  the  road 
under  any  law  that  has  been  passed  by  the  Legislature,  and  thus  relieve 
me  of  the  necessity  of  raising  the  question  by  withholding  the  payment 
of  my  state  taxes,  as  I  have  announced  it  my  purpose  to  do.  By  the 
way,  I  may  as  well  mention  here  that  I  have  recently  been  informed  by 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  who  has  been  removed  from  of 
fice,  "  that  Mr.  Alexander  Rives  and  myself  had  been  appointed  directors 
of  this  road  before  the  change  in  the  board  took  place,"  but,  of  course,  as 
we  were  both  Union  men,  we  were  thought  to  be  very  unsuitable  persons 
to  serve  as  directors  of  a  Virginia  railroad,  and  we  were  both  unceremo 
niously  removed  by  the  new  board,  even  before  the  appointments  had  been 
announced,  to  make  place  for  two  gentlemen  whose  sympathies  were  in 
the  opposite  direction ;  while  the  third  gentleman  who  was  associated 
with  us  (a  secessionist)  has  been  retained. 

I  do  not  mention  this  in  a  spirit  of  complaint,  but  to  show  the  extent 
to  which  this  proscription  of  all  Union  men  has  been  and  will  be  carried  ; 
and  just  now  comes  in  a  paper  from  which  I  cut  the  following,  which  fur 
nishes  still  another  instance  of  secession  vindictiveness  : 

"  The  Judges. — Governor  Pierpont's  nominations  for  the  Court  of  Ap 
peals  were  yesterday  confirmed  by  the  Legislature ;  also  the  nominations 
for  the  first  four  circuits  and  the  sixth.  There  was  no  nomination  for  the 
fifth  circuit. 

"Judge  E.  K.  Snead,  the  nominee  for  this  district,  was  almost  unani 
mously  rejected,  he  receiving  but  nine  votes.  He  was  the  only  original 
Union  man  put  in  nomination  by  Governor  Pierpont,  and  hence  no  one 
should  be  surprised  at  his  rejection.  He  was  appointed  over  two  years 
ago  by  Governor  Pierpont  as  judge  of  this  circuit,  and  has  presided  with 
dignity  and  ability,  giving  entire  satisfaction  to  the  bar  and  those  having 
business  in  his  court.  But  his  loyalty  killed  him.  The  '  reconstructed' 
rebels  of  the  Legislature  could  not  consent  to  allow  even  one  loyal  man  on 
the  bench  of  the  state." 


APPENDIX.  373 

I  begin  to  think  that  I  was  mistaken  when  I  said  there  was  no  "free 
and  independent  party"  in  this  state.  But  "  free"  for  what  ?  Why,  to 
do  just  whatever  they  please,  with  or  without  the  sanction  of  law.  ' '  In 
dependent"  of  what?  Independent  of  all  legal,  constitutional,  not  to  say 
moral  restraint. 

Now  would  it  be  believed  that  this  Constitution,  which  is  so  framed  as 
to  exclude  all  those  who  participated  in  the  rebellion  from  holding  office 
under  it,  has  been  so  abused  as  to  confer  the  office  on  those  alone  who  did 
thus  participate ;  and  if  they  do  this  under  this  Constitution,  what  have 
we  to  expect  under  a  new  Constitution  of  their  own  framing,  but  that 
every  man  loyal  to  the  United  States  during  the  rebellion  will  be  perpet 
ually  excluded  by  constitutional  enactment  ?  And,  by-the-by,  I  see  a 
proposition  has  been  already  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  the  call  of  a 
convention  to  make  a  new  Constitution,  which  is  just  what  I  have  ex 
pected,  and  have  foreshadowed  from  the  beginning.  Is  this  a  time  and 
an  occasion  when  Union  men  should  be  asked  or  expected  to  keep  their 
mouths  shut,  with  the  whole  power  of  the  United  States  government  to 
support  them  ? 

I  know  it  has  been  charged  that  disappointment  at  not  being  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate  has  influenced  me  in  this  matter.  Do  the  gen 
tlemen  who  make  this  charge  take  me  for  a  fool  ?  I  have  had  assurances 
all  through  the  winter,  though  at  no  time  a  candidate  for  the  office,  that  I 
would  be  elected  before  the  adjournment,  and  I  threw  all  chances  of  an 
election  to  the  dogs  when  it  came  in  conflict  with  what  I  believed  to  be 
a  duty  to  my  country.  And  I  would  inform  these  gentlemen,  also,  that 
I  declined  a  seat  in  the  Senate  when  Messrs.  Underwood  and  Segur  were 
said  to  be  elected,  which,  with  such  "vaulting  ambition"  as  is  charged 
withal,  I  would  not  have  done. 

Now,  then,  the  "axioms"  I  have  presented,  with  the  exception  of  the 
tenth  and  fifteenth,  I  hold  to  be  sound,  unquestionable,  unanswerable,  and 
uncontrovertible  propositions,  and  upon  each  of  which  I  am  prepared  to 
meet  any  gentleman,  or  set  of  gentlemen,  in  the  United  States  in  fair 
and  friendly  argument  through  the  public  press,  provided  I  can  have 
equal  access  to  the  press  which  is  given  to  them. 

In  regard  to  the  tenth  proposition,  I  admit  a  difference  may  or  does 
exist,  although  there  has  been  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind,  especially  since 
I  have  found  my  convictions  confirmed  by  the  opinions  of  Chief -justices 
Marshall  and  Taney.  Still  it  is  a  question  as  yet  not  adjudicated  by  the 
proper  tribunals  of  the  country,  but  is  one  that  it  is  high  time  should  be 


374  APPENDIX. 

settled.  But  no  man  who  is  truly  loyal  to  his  country  need  fear  the  con 
sequences  of  a  revocation  of  his  pardon,  as  he  can  not  be  disturbed,  either 
in  his  person  or  his  property,  without  trial  and  conviction,  which  will 
never  be  resorted  to  if  they  conduct  themselves  with  loyalty  to  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  to  which  they  owe  their  first  allegiance,  while 
this  revocation  will  serve  as  "  a  hook  in  the  nose  of  the  leviathan"  if  he 
should  continue  to  exhibit  the  same  symptoms  of  disloyalty  which  now 
prevail  throughout  the  state. 

The  fifteenth  proposition  was  the  only  one  that  perplexed  me  for  a  mo 
ment,  and  that  perplexity  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  the  State  Constitution 
so  limits  the  right  of  suffrage  as  to  render  a  fair  election  under  it  almost 
impracticable ;  and  how  to  enlarge  it  was  the  difficulty,  as  there  was  no 
authority  given  for  such  enlargement  except  by  the  Legislature,  which 
must,  of  course,  be  elected  before  it  could  act ;  and  as  it  matters  not  who 
votes,  provided  they  vote  for  those  only  who  are  constitutionally  eligible, 
I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  best,  if  not  only  means  of  arriving  at  this 
end  (as  the  state  was  still  subject  to  military  control),  was  to  suggest  that 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  as  the  head  of  the  military  authority, 
should  provide  for  such  enlargement  as  his  judgment  and  discretion  might 
direct,  not  doubting  that  he  would  extend  it  with  sufficient  liberality  to 
answer  the  purposes  of  a  fair  election. 

I  grant  this  is  an  irregularity,  but  one  that  I  could  see  no  better  means 
of  settling.  If  any  one  can  suggest  a  better  mode,  I  am  willing  to 
adopt  it. 

I  am  not  afraid  to  trust  Mr.  Johnson  with  this  power.  I  am  not  one 
of  those  who  entertain  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Johnson  has  intended,  or 
means  now,  to  make  any  concessions  to  the  Copperheads  of  the  North  or 
the  Coppertails  of  the  South.  To  the  credit  of  human  nature,  be  it  said, 
that  our  history  has  furnished  not  even  one  instance  of  such  revolting 
turpitude  and  depravity  as  would  be  exhibited  by  his  tergiversation  at 
such  a  time  as  this,  and  under  such  circumstances  as  now  exist. 

His  veto  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill  may  well  have  been  honest  and 
conscientious.  Even  if  he  intended  it  as  a  rebuke  to  the  extreme  men  of 
the  North,  I  do  not  see  that  it  should  lead  to  the  apprehension  that  he 
intended  thereby  to  affiliate  with  the  extreme  men  of  the  South,  who  are 
even  more  dangerously  radical  than  the  Radicals  of  the  North.  I  do  not 
see,  that  if  I  repudiate  the  teachings  of  Wendell  Phillips  and  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,  that  it  is  at  all  to  be  inferred  that  I  intend  to  affiliate 


APPENDIX.  375 

with  Jeff.  Davis  and  his  party,  any  more  than  if  I  repudiate  Davis  and 
his  company,  that  I  intend  to  indorse  Garrison  and  Phillips. 

Thank  God,  the  privilege  is  still  left  us  (since  the  Confederacy  was 
smashed  up)  to  steer  between  both  extremes  ;  and  believing  as  I  do  in  the 
honesty  of  purpose  and  patriotism  of  the  President,  I  think  the  few  crumbs 
of  comfort  picked  up  from  the  shaking  of  the  cloth  from  the  President's 
table,  which  the  reconstructed  have  grasped  as  drowning  men  cling  to 
straws,  will  yet  turn  to  ashes  on  their  lips. 

Nor  do  I  perceive  that  any  great  inconvenience  would  result  from  the 
reorganization  of  this  state,  as  I  proposed.  Upon  its  being  decided  that 
all  legislative  action  under  this  Constitution  has  been  unauthorized,  Gov 
ernor  Pierpont  would  be  rehabilitated,  and  restored  to  the  power  with 
which  he  was  clothed  by  the  Constitution,  and  he  could  at  once  appoint 
all  the  present  judges  and  magistrates  to  hold  over  until  new  appoint 
ments  could  be  made.  But  as  long  as  the  state  is  under  the  control  of 
disloyal  men,  so  long  will  she  be  excluded  from  the  councils  of  the  nation, 
and  just  so  long  will  her  representatives  be  left  "out  in  the  cold." 

And  now,  Mr.  Editor,  in  conclusion,  let  me  urge  you  to  go  ahead  and 
fear  not.  Strike  whenever  you  can  strike,  and  be  sure  to  put  in  blows 
that  will  tell ;  for  be  you  assured  that,  when  they  strike,  they  will  strike 
with  all  their  might,  whether  you  strike  or  not.  Unless  we  mean  to  ac 
knowledge  our  inferiority,  we  must  make  a  fight ;  therefore  let  us  go  in 
with  all  our  strength  and  power,  or  tamely  and  shamefully  surrender  at 
once.  Continue  what  you  have  so  patriotically  undertaken.  Stir  up  the 
Union  element  of  the  state,  whether  large  or  small.  Richmond  is  the 
nucleus  for  operations.  Call  a  convention  of  the  Union  men,  and,  as  a 
body,  make  an  appeal  to  the  President  and  to  Congress  to  come  to  our 
relief.  Of  course,  all  can  not  come ;  but  call  all,  and  let  as  many  come 
as  are  not  afraid.  Call  it  at  such  time  as  may  seem  most  expedient,  and 
count  me  in;  and  let  those  who  are  afraid,  or  can  not  come,  stand  back 
while  we  do  the  fighting  for  them,  ourselves,  and  our  country ;  but  those 
who  can  come  and  won't  come,  can,  if  they  prefer  it,  stay  at  home  and 
swell  the  majority  against  us. 

Respectfully  yours,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

P.S. — I  see  by  the  paper  of  Monday  that  a  lamentable  case  of  timidity 
and  want  of  moral  courage  was  presented  in  the  House  of  Delegates.  It 
came  from  a  quarter  that  I  did  not  expect  it ;  however,  although  we  have 
no  strength  to  spare,  we  can  get  along  without  this  gentleman ;  but  more 
of  this  hereafter. 


376  APPENDIX. 


THE   FOURTH   LETTER. 

Mr.  Garnett  having  at  a  later  period  made  some  reply  to  my  second 
letter  to  him,  only  a  portion  of  which  I  have  ever  seen,  I  wrote  this,  the 
last  letter  on  this  subject : 

Auburn,  near  Brandy  Station,  April  15, 18GC. 

During  the  late  suspension  of  the  publication  of  the  Richmond  papers, 
I  saw  a  brief  extract  in  the  Alexandria  Gazette  from  a  communication  of 
Muscoe  Garnett,  Esq.,  in  reply  to  my  late  letter  to  him,  which,  in  more 
respects  than  one,  does  me  great  injustice.  I  have  no  intention,  and  still 
less  desire,  to  quarrel  with  Mr.  Garnett,  or  to  say  any  thing  that  can  be 
construed  into  unkindness,  for  I  have  no  such  feeling  toward  him. 

His  inexcusable  repudiation  of  me  before  the  body  of  which  he  was  a 
member  I  thought  did  me  so  much  wrong,  and  was  calculated  to  do  me  so 
much  injury,  that  I  repelled  it  in  self-defense,  and  in  terms  that  I  thought 
at  the  time  well-merited.  I  looked  upon  it  as  the  result  of  a  weakness  of 
nerve  rather  than  a  vice  on  his  part,  and  intended  to  relieve  myself  by 
making  this  weakness  transparent ;  and  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying  it  cost 
me  as  much  pain  to  write  it,  as  it  did  Mr.  Garnett  or  any  of  his  friends  to 
read  it.  That  object  accomplished,  all  feeling  of  resentment  on  my  part 
immediately  subsided,  and  in  my  bosom  it  shall  not  be  revived.  But  I 
wish  to  correct  some  of  Mr.  Garnett's  errors  in  regard  to  my  position, 
which  he  strangely  appears  to  have  misapprehended.  He  says,  "He  (I) 
proposes  to  set  aside  the  present  state  government  and  all  its  legislation 
(repudiates  the  Legislature  from  which  he  was  anxious  to  receive  the  ap 
pointment  of  United  States  senator),  desires  a  military  or  provisional  gov 
ernor  to  call  a  convention  of  Union  men  par  excellence,  such  as  could  alone 
take  the  test-oath,  and  to  be  elected  by  men  who  could  do  the  same." 

In  this  brief  space  there  are  no  less  than  three  errors : 

1st.  So  far  from  desiring  a  military  or  provisional  governor  for  this 
state,  I  took  the  ground  that  this  state  occupied  a  different  position  from 
the  other  Southern  states — that  Governor  Pierpont  was  the  regularly 
elected  governor,  and  must  be  recognized  as  such.  That  I  repudiated  the 
action  and  the  constitutional  organization  of  the  Legislature,  is  true  ;  but 
that  was  nothing  new  to  Mr.  Garnett,  for  in  the  month  of  November  last 
I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Garnett.  in  which  he  put  various  questions  to 
me,  upon  which  he  asked  my  opinions  and  advice.  Among  them  was  the 
following : 

"How  is  the  question  to  be  raised  as  to  the  members  that  are  elected, 


APPENDIX.  377 

who  are,  by  the  terms  of  the  Constitution,  rendered  incapable  of  holding 
office?"  Here,  then,  Mr.  Garnett  broadly  admits  that  there  were  mem 
bers  of  the  body  who  were  prohibited  by  the  Constitution  from  holding  of 
fice,  and  he  wants  to  know  how  to  get  rid  of  them.  And  what  was  the 
answer  I  gave  him  ?  Here  it  is :  The  question  must  be  raised  by  the  oath 
being  administered  to  each  member  of  the  Legislature ;  but  the  Consti 
tution  does  not  prescribe  by  whom  the  oath  shall  be  administered,  while 
it  is  evident  that  it  was  not  contemplated  that  any  should  be  allowed  to 
"hold"  or  take  a  seat  without  first  taking  the  oath;  for  if  he  takes  the 
seat  to  assist  in  the  organization  of  the  House,  he  certainly  holds  it,  even 
if  it  should  be  only  for  a  day,  while  he  is  disqualified  for  any  legislative 
duty  until  he  has  taken  the  oath.  I  see,  then,  no  remedy  for  a  violation 
of  the  Constitution  both  in  letter  and  spirit,  unless  the  governor  will  re 
quire  each  member  to  take  and  subscribe  to  the  oath  before  him,  as  the 
head  of  the  government ;  and  it  is  his  imperative  duty  to  see  that  the 
Constitution,  which  he  is  here  to  put  in  force,  is  not  violated  at  the  out- 
sot.  *  *  *  "The  Constitution  authorizes  the  Legislature  to  pass  an  act 
or  acts  prescribing  means  by  which  persons  who  have  baen  disfranchised 
by  this  provision  shall  or  may  be  restored  to  the  rights  of  VOTERS  when, 
in  their  opinion,  it  will  be  safe  to  do  so."  *  *  *  "But  no  person  shall 
vote  or  hold  office  under  this  Constitution  who  had  held  office  under  the 
Confederate  government,  or  state  in  rebellion,"  etc.,  etc.;  so  that  the 
right  of  suffrage  even  could  not  be  so  enlarged  as  to  extend  to  those  who 
had  held  office,  and  I  could  never  consent  to  countenance  so  mischievous 
and  pernicious,  so  disorganizing  and  revolutionary  a  precedent,  as  that  of 
having  constitutional  provisions  amended,  annulled,  or  introduced  by  an 
ordinary  act  of  legislation,  which  must  at  all  times  be  subordinate  to  the 
terms  and  provisions  of  the  Constitution. 

If  the  example  already  set  by  the  effort  to  remove  the  disabilities  for 
holding  office,  as  fixed  by  the  Constitution,  has  any  merit  or  virtue  in  it, 
then  all  Constitutions  will  be  worthless  in  the  future  ;  and  all  that  a  dom 
inant  party  may  desire  to  effect  may  be  readily  accomplished  by  submit 
ting  the  question  to  the  people  whether  the  Legislature  may  not  alter, 
amend,  or  abolish  any  constitutional  provision  that  may  stand  in  the  way 
of  their  success.  In  like  manner  Congress  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  sub 
mit  to  the  popular  vote  whether  they  shall  not  be  empowered  at  their  next 
session  to  amend  the  United  States  Constitution,  so  as  to  make  the  right 
of  suffrage  universal,  without  distinction  of  race  or  color,  and  the  thing  is 
done,  without  the  formality  in  such  cases  made  and  provided. 


378  APPENDIX. 

"We  of  the  South  should  be  extremety  cautious  how  we  set  bad  ex 
amples,  which  may  be  imitated  by  others  to  our  disadvantage  or  ruin. 
With  a  proper  exercise  of  wisdom  and  discretion  on  the  part  of  the  South, 
these  disqualifications  will,  perhaps  at  no  remote  day,  be  greatly  modi 
fied  ;  and  is  it  not  better  that  these  gentlemen  who  have  brought  such  un 
told  misery  on  the  people  should  be  required  to  exercise  a  little  patience, 
and  not  claim  at  the  start,  as  if  by  Divine  right,  to  take  the  reins  of  gov 
ernment  in  their  own  hands,  and  so  far  depart  from  all  the  old  land 
marks,  which  may  lead  us  into  everlasting  difficulty  and  trouble,  both  in 
the  state  and  federal  governments  ? 

Such  were  the  opinions  I  entertained  at  that  time,  and  such  was  my 
answer  to  Mr.  G.,  but  which  I  abstained  from  pressing  until  an  opportuni 
ty  was  afforded  of  ascertaining  whether  the  action  of  this  body  would  be 
such  as  to  command  the  confidence  and  respect,  as  well  of  their  political 
opponents  as  their  friends,  or  of  the  loyal  and  disloyal  portions  of  the  com 
munity  alike.  The  result  proved  that  it  was  the  most  disloyal,  intolerant, 
and  prescriptive  body  that  had  ever  assembled  in  the  Capitol  of  Virginia 
toward  the  loyal  men  of  this  state,  who  were  alone  entitled  by  the  Consti 
tution,  as  well  as  by  national  law,  to  shape  and  control  the  legislation  and 
destiny  of  this  commonwealth ;  and  from  the  moment  I  saw  this  I  re 
solved  to  raise  the  very  question  that  I  had  endeavored  to  impress  upon 
Mr.  Garnett,  and  through  him,  and  others  who  accompanied  him,  upon  the 
mind  of  Governor  Pierpont. 

2.  He  says  I  was  "anxious"  to  receive  the  appointment  of  United 
States  senator  from  the  body  I  am  now  disposed  to  repudiate.  If  Mr. 
Garnett  had  substituted  the  word  "willing"  for  anxious,  he  would  have 
been  nearer  the  mark.  I  said  to  him,  as  to  others,  from  the  first,  I  could 
not,  and  would  not,  under  any  circumstances,  be  a  candidate  for  the 
office,  but  if  the  state  desired  my  services  they  should  not  be  withheld. 
I  had  already,  before  they  met,  repudiated  the  Legislature  if  it  should  be 
organized  without  the  administration  of  the  oath  prescribed  ;  and  if  I  had 
been  elected  before  the  prescriptive  policy  which  characterized  the  body 
was  adopted,  I  would  cheerfully  have  accepted  it,  and  have  done  all  in 
my  power  to  have  gotten  the  loyal  representatives  of  the  Southern  States 
admitted  to  their  seats;  but  from  the  moment  I  saw  the  temper  and  dis 
position  which  controlled  the  action  of  the  (so-called)  Legislature  toward 
all  of  my  class,  I  resolved,  if  elected,  to  decline  the  position,  on  the  ground 
that  the  elective  body  was  not  authorized  by  the  Constitution  to  make  an 
election,  and  this  fact  was  made  known  to  a  number  of  my  intimate 


APPENDIX.  379 

friends,  including  Alexander  Rives,  Franklin  Stearns,  Lewis  McKenzie, 
and  many  others,  both  in  Richmond  and  Washington.  Nevertheless,  L 
was  more  anxious  for  an  election  than  before,  because  I  felt  that  it  would 
strengthen  me  in  the  position  I  had  even  then  made  up  my  mind  to  adopt, 
when  I  saw  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  that  body  to  make  loyalty  to  the 
Union  odious  and  disloyalty  meritorious.  I  would  not  have  consented  to 
receive  honors  at  the  hands  of  those  who  would  bestow  them  for  the  ad 
vantages  they  expected  to  derive  from  my  services,  and  leave  my  friends 
behind  to  be  sacrificed.  This  position  was  distinctly  well  known  to  many 
of  those  in  whom  I  could  confide. 

But  Mr.  Garnett  continues,  "If  I  were  for  a  moment  to  give  counte 
nance  to  this  (the  call  of  a  convention  to  be  composed  of  Union  men  who 
could  take  the  test-oath),  the  bodies  of  my  three  noble  sons,  who  fought  and 
lost  their  lives  in  a  cause  that  they  thought  to  be  just,  would  turn  in  their 
graves,  and  no  more  could  I  visit,  without  shame  and  confusion,  the  sacred 
spot  where  they  rest." 

Well,  all  this  may  be  so,  but  it  only  proves  that  I  had  been  mistaken 
in  Mr.  Garnett's  position.  I  thought  he  was  one  that  would  take  that 
oath,  and  was  anxious  to  make  all  others  do  so  before  they  could  enter 
the  legislative  body ;  or  why  did  he  want  to  know  how  the  question  could 
be  raised  to  get  rid  of  those  who  could  not  take  a  test-oath  prescribed  by 
the  State  Constitution?  While  I  have  thus  answered  all  of  Mr.  Garnett's 
communication  that  has  fallen  under  my  observation,  I  hope  without 
offense  to  him,  yet  would  I  not  have  done  so,  but  that  I  had  something 
else  more  important  to  say,  and  therefore  concluded  I  would  take  it  all  in 
a  lump,  and  make  a  finish  of  the  job. 

Not  long  since  I  received  a  letter  from  one  of  the  most  quiet,  unob 
trusive,  and  intelligent  members  of  the  late  Legislature,  in  which  he  says, 

"In  this  county  we  have,  and  had  during  the  war,  a  majority  of  straight- 
out  Union  men ;  and  I  think  the  same  is  the  case  in  two  of  the  counties 
adjacent  to  this ;  and,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  the  senti 
ments  of  the  Union  men,  they  cordially  indorse  your  views.  Mr. 

who  is  a  sound  lawyer,  says  none  of  your  positions  can  be  refuted,  yet 
there  is  one  point  on  which  some  would  like  an  explanation  ;  for  example, 
an  intelligent  friend  asked  me  this  question : 

"  If  Jeff.  Davis  had  the  right  of  expatriation,  and  exercised  the  right  by 
becoming  a  citizen  of  the  Confederate  States,  how  can  the  United  States 
punish  him  for  treason  ?  I  would  be  glad,  if  you  publish  any  thing  farther 
in  explanation  of  your  'axioms,'  that  you  give  your  views  in  regard  to 
the  case  stated." 


380  APPENDIX. 

It  was  to  explain  this  view  particularly  that  I  was  induced  to  write 
tins  article.  The  explanation  is  very  simple  and  very  plain.  The  at 
tempt  to  carry  a  state  out  of  the  Union,  and  thereby  to  erect  another 
government  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  constituted  the 
crime  of  treason  ;  then  to  become  a  citizen  of  another  government, 
whether  "de  facto"  or  "dejure"  was  an  act  of  denationalization,  or 
alienation,  which  in  no  degree  relieved  the  party  of  the  penalties  of  the 
crime  of  treason. 

Benedict  Arnold,  for  example,  committed  treason,  and  then  made  his 
escape  to  another  country,  and  became  a  citizen  thereof.  Did  it  ever 
occur  to  any  human  being  that  if  he  had  subsequently  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  United  States,  that  he  would  not  have  been  as  liable  to  pun 
ishment  as  if  he  had  never  left  the  country  ?  Similar  cases  are  of  daily 
occurrence.  A  man  commits  a  murder  or  a  forgery,  robs  a  bank  or  his 
employer,  and  makes  his  escape  to  Canada  or  to  England ;  he  may  or 
may  not  become  a  citizen  thereof;  he  is  demanded  under  an  extradition 
treaty ;  he  is  delivered  up,  brought  home,  and  punished  for  the  offense  he 
committed  before  he  left. 

Has  it  ever  entered  into  the  imagination  of  any  one  that  his  having 
made  himself  a  citizen  of  another  government  in  any  degree  impaired 
his  liability  to  punishment  ?  Yet  this  is  the  only  point  of  objection  I  have 
yet  heard  of  being  made  by  any  truly  loyal  man  to  the  series  of  axioms 
I  have  had  the  honor  to  present  as  the  only  means  left  us  by  the  disloyal 
element  of  the  state  to  protect  ourselves  from  the  position  of  absolute  in 
feriority  to  which  it  is  proposed  to  reduce  us. 

One  other  word  on  this  question  of  alienage.  Perhaps  it  is  not  gener 
ally  known  what  measure  of  liberality  these  howling  reconstructed  gentlemen, 
who  complain  so  bitterly  of  my  want  of  generosity  toward  them,  proposed 
for  us.  Let  all  men  then  understand  that  when  they  had  the  power  they 
did  not  lack  the  will  to  make  aliens  of  us  all,  under  circumstances  far  less 
aggravated  than  those  under  which  they  are  now  themselves  laboring. 

In  the  month  of  July,  18G1,  the  Convention  of  Virginia  passed  an  or 
dinance  declaring  "that  any  citizen  of  Virginia  holding  office  under  the 
government  of  the  United  States  after  the  31st  of  July,  18G1,  should  be 
forever  banished  from  the  state,  and  be  declared  an  ALIEN  ENEMY  ;  and 
that  any  citizen  of  Virginia  hereafter  undertaking  to  represent  the  State  of 
Virginia  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  should,  in  addition  to  the 
above  penalties,  be  considered  guilty  of  treason,  and  his  property  be  liable 
to  confiscation." 


APPENDIX*  SSI 

Yet  those  who  voted  for  and  those  who  approved  this  measure  of  vin 
dictive  harshness  toward  those  who  declined  to  surrender  their  birthright 
as  citizens  of  the  freest  and  best  government  on  earth,  or  to  make  a  vol 
untary  relinquishment  of  their  great  inheritance  of  freedom,  are  now  the 
most  clamorous  to  represent  the  people  in  this  same  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  and  set  up  a  universal  howl  of  indignation,  and  implore 
the  wrath  of  God  and  man  on  the  heads  of  those  who  propose  to  give 
them  a  small  dose  of  their  own  medicine. 

Oh,  what  a  difference  there  is  between  '•'•your  ox  and  my  bull!"  What 
a  set  of  knaves  and  hypocrites  are  these  same  leaders  of  Democracy,  and 
what  a  set  of  simpletons  are  those  honest  but  deluded  people  of  all  parties 
who  have  not  yet  learned  how  to  appreciate  them  ! 

But  if  I  have  made  myself  so  odious  to  the  partially  "reconstructed"  by 
the  propositions  they  have  obliged  me  to  make,  what  will  they  have  to  say 
when  they  find  that  I  am  but  sustaining  the  policy  of  Mr.  Johnson,  whom 
(in  imitation  of  the  "anaconda")  they  are  covering  with  their  filthy 
slime  before  they  swallow  him  whole,  if  he  should  ever  have  the  misfortune 
to  place  himself  within  the  reach  of  their  rapacious  jaws,  and  substitute  for 
him  in  their  affections  another  Jeiferson  Davis  or  General  Lee  ? 

If  all  men  were  by  law  aliens  to  the  Confederate  government  who  held 
office  under  the  United  States,  why  are  not  all  aliens  to  the  United  States 
who  held  office  under  the  Confederate  government?  "Answer  me  that, 
Master  Brooks." 

Under  this  decree  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  poor  old  Colonel  Payne, 
a  faithful  and  valued  officer  of  the  United  States,  who  carried  a  Mexican 
bullet  in  his  hip  for  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life,  suffering  torture  all 
the  time,  an  honored  soldier  and  a  devoted  Union  man,  was  compelled  to 
resign  his  commission  and  half  pay,  forswear  his  country  (or  be  stripped 
of  the  little  property  he  had  saved  in  a  long  and  laborious  life),  which  in 
a  short  time  broke  his  heart,  and  hurried  him  to  an  untimely  grave. 

Where  were  these  howling,  whining  patriots  at  that  day  ?  Where  were 
"Blanche,"  "Tray,"  and  "Sweetheart"  then?  Who  cried  out  that  this 
was  an  outrage  against  those  who  had  committed  neither  moral  nor  legal 
wrong  ?  WTho  condemned  ?  Who  disapproved  ?  Who  stigmatized  or 
denounced  the  authors  of  this  decree  ?  Or,  rather,  let  me  ask  which  of 
all  those  who  have  hurled  their  malignant  spite  at  me  did  not  justify  and 
approve  ? 

When  the  Examiner  and  Dispatch,  et  id  omne  genus,  were,  upon  my  ar 
rest  in  1862,  calling  for  my  blood  and  that  of  other  traitors,  and  daily 


382  APPENDIX. 

crying  "Crucify  them,  crucify  them!"  "Hang  them,  hang  them!"  be 
cause  we  would  not  raise  a  parricidal  hand  against  the  government  of  our 
choice,  and  to  which  we  were  born,  and  to  which  there  was  neither  moral 
nor  legal  right  to  sever  us  from,  where  then  were  these  champions  of  the 
great  principles  of  public  law  ?  Where  these  defenders  of  the  rights  of 
the  people,  and  of  the  doctrine  that  all  government  depends  upon  the  consent 
of  the  governed?  When  I  was  ignomiuiously  thrown  into  a  negro  jail, 
and  brought  to  trial  before  a  military  commission  by  Jefferson  Davis, 
where  were  then  these  "Scribes  and  Pharisees"  who  now  cry  out  so  lusti 
ly  against  a  military  commission  for  him  who  was  the  constitutional  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  armies  in  rebellion,  and  who  did  not  hesitate  to  use 
such  military  commissions  for  strictly  private  citizens  ?  What  privileges 
and  immunities  are  guaranteed  to  this  great  offender  that  are  not  equally 
secured  to  every  American  citizen?  Out  upon  all  such  hypocrisy.  I 
have  heard  it  thunder  before  to-day,  and  I  expect  to  hear  it  thunder 
again,  and  am  not  to  be  deterred  from  the  performance  of  a  public  duty 
by  such  selfish  tricksters  and  hucksters  in  political  trade. 

Will  it  not  surprise  those  who  have  said  so  many  harsh  things  of  me, 
in  parallel  columns  with  their  lavish  expenditure  of  toadyism  to  Mr. 
Johnson,  to  find  that  upon  this  question  of  alienage  our  opinions  are  pre 
cisely  alike;  that  they  "run  upon  all-fours,"  as  is  commonly  said,  and 
that  in  his  policy  (for  I  take  it  for  granted  he  does  not  mean  to  back 
down  from  any  pledge  he  has  formally  and  voluntarily  made  to  the  coun 
try)  he  goes  far  beyond  any  position  I  have  taken,  or  am  likely  to  take, 
especially  in  regard  to  the  division  and  sale  of  the  large  plantations  into 
small  farms,  and  their  distribution  here?  But  I  hope  these  gentlemen, 
before  they  commit  themselves  any  farther  against  my  policy,  will  inward 
ly  digest  the  policy  of  Mr.  Johnson,  and  deal  fairly  with  both. 

Here  is  an  extract  from  the  speech  of  Mr.  Johnson,  made  on  his  nom 
ination  for  Vice-president  in  186-1.  I  must,  however,  say  that  when  I 
wrote  my  axioms  I  had  never  seen  this  speech,  and  did  not  know  that  I 
was  indorsed  by  such  distinguished  authority.  Here  is  what  Mr.  Johnson 
says : 

"But  in  calling  a  convention  to  restore  the  state,  who  shall  restore  and 
re-establish  it?  Shall  the  man  who  gave  his  influence  and  his  means  to 
destroy  the  government  ?  Is  he  to  participate  in  the  great  work  of  re 
organization  ?  Shall  he  who  brought  this  misery  upon  the  state  be  per 
mitted  to  control  its  destinies  ?  If  this  be  so,  then  all  this  precious  blood 
of  our  brave  soldiers  and  officers  so  freely  poured  out  will  have  been 


APPENDIX.  383 

wantonly  spilled.  All  the  glorious  victories  icon  by  our  noble  armies  will  go 
for-  naught,  and  all  the  battle-Jields  which  have  been  sown  with  dead  heroes 
during  the  rebellion  will  have  been  made  memorable  in  vain. 

"Why  all  this  carnage  and  devastation?  It  ivas  that  treason  might  be 
put  down  and  traitors  punished.  Therefore  I  say  that  traitors  should  take 
a  back  seat  in  the  work  of  restoration.  If  there  be  but  five  thousand  men 
in  Tennessee  loyal  to  the  Constitution,  loyal  to  freedom,  loyal  to  justice, 
these  true  and  faithful  men  should  control  the  work  of  reorganization  and 
reformation  absolutely.  I  say  that  the  traitor  has  ceased  to  be  a  citizen, 
and,  in  joining  the  rebellion,  has  become  a  public  enemy.  lie  forfeited 
his  right  to  vote  with  loyal  men  when  he  renounced  his  citizenship  and  sought 
to  destroy  our  government.  We  say  to  the  most  honest  and  industrious 
foreigner  who  comes  from  England  or  Germany  to  dwell  among  us,  and 
to  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  country,  '  Before  you  can  be  a  citizen  you 
must  stay  here  five  years.'  If  we  are  so  cautious  about  foreigners,  who 
voluntarily  renounce  their  homes  to  live  with  us,  what  should  we  say  to 
the  traitor,  who,  although  born  and  reared  among  us,  has  raised  a  parri 
cidal  hand  against  the  government  which  always  protected  him  ?  My 
judgment  is  that  he  should  be  subjected  to  a  severe  ordeal  before  he  is 
restored  to  citizenship.  A  fellow  who  takes  the  oath  merely  to  save  his 
property,  and  denies  the  validity  of  the  oath,  is  a  perjured  man,  and  not 
to  be  trusted.  Before  these  repenting  rebels  can  be  trusted,  let  them  bring 
forth  the  fruits  of  repentance.  He  who  helped  to  make  all  these  widows  and 
orphans,  who  draped  the  streets  of  Nashville  in  mourning,  should  suffer  for 
his  great  crime. 

"Treason  must  be  made  odious,  and  the  traitors  must  be  punished  and 
impoverished,  their  great  plantations  must  be  seized,  and  divided  into 
small  farms,  and  sold  to  honest,  industrious  men.  The  day  for  protecting 
the  lands  and  negroes  of  these  authors  of  rebellion  is  past.  It  is  high 
time  it  was.  I  have  been  most  deeply  pained  at  some  things  which  have 
come  under  my  observation.  We  get  men  in  command  who,  under  the 
influence  of  flattery,  fawning,  and  caressing,  grant  protection  to  the  rich 
traitor,  while  the  poor  Union  man  stands  out  in  the  cold,  often  unable  to 
get  a  receipt  or  a  voucher  for  his  losses." 

These  were  Mr.  Johnson's  original,  honest  views,  voluntarily  expressed ; 
while  the  instincts  of  self-preservation,  as  well  as  the  preservation  of  the 
best  interests  of  the  nation,  forced  this  policy  upon  me  at  the  moment  I 
was  exerting  my  utmost  efforts  to  serve  those  who  were  the  first  to  repu 
diate  and  denounce  me,  and  all  who  thought  as  I  thought. 


384  APPENDIX. 

Now,  then,  here  we  are,  Mr.  Johnson  as  the  chief,  and  I  as  a  subordi 
nate  helping  him  to  carry  out  his  own  policy.  Is  it  not  in  violation  of 
every  principle  of  law  and  justice,  to  reward  the  principal  and  punish  the 
agent? 

Finally.  The  Union  men  of  Frederick  County  have  called  a  conven 
tion  of  all  Union  men,  to  be  held  in  Alexandria  on  the  17th  of  May.  Of 
course,  I  suppose  it  is  meant  of  all  unconditional  Union  men  now  and  all 
the  time,  for  with  them  alone  must  commence  this  work  of  reconstruction  ; 
for  although  there  are  a  great  number  of  truly  loyal  men  now  who  took 
the  amnesty  oath  honestly  and  in  good  faith,  yet  there  are  also  a  very 
large  number  who  regard  it  as  a  Custom-house  oath,  taken  under  com 
pulsion  and  dictation,  as  one  of  the  reconstructed  and  elected  candidates 
for  Congress  declared  during  the  canvass  he  did,  and  there  will  be  no 
ready  means  of  discrimination  between  the  two ;  therefore,  to  make  the 
convention  effective,  it  must  necessarily  be  limited  in  the  start  to  those  to 
whom  no  objection  can  be  made. 

With  this  limitation,  we  can  have  a  most  imposing  convention  if  we  had 
the  means  of  giving  general  notice  through  the  state  of  the  purpose. 
Many,  therefore,  will  be  kept  away  for  want  of  knowledge  of  the  inten 
tion,  many  by  poverty,  and  many  more  yet  by  a  want  of  backbone  to 
meet  what  they  hold  to  be  public  opinion ;  but  as  I  am  about  to  leave  the 
state  for  a  while,  I  will  beg  leave  now  to  suggest  that  the  day  fixed  for 
the  meeting  is,  in  my  opinion,  too  early  for  a  successful  issue,  and  would 
therefore  suggest  a  postponement  until  some  time  after  the  middle  of 
June ;  but  let  it  be  when  or  where  it  may,  if  within  the  reach  of  possibili 
ty,  I  will  make  one  of  the  number.  Respectfully,  JOHN  M.  BOTTS. 

MR.  BOTTS' S   PLAN   OF   RECONSTRUCTION. 

The  plan  of  reconstruction  as  reported  by  the  Joint  Committee,  and 
which  was  in  part  adopted  in  the  House  by  such  an  overwhelming  ma 
jority,  was  liable,  I  thought,  to  so  many  grave  objections,  and  calculated 
to  do  so  much  more  harm  than  good,  that  I  took  the  liberty  of  offerings 
plan  of  my  own,  based  essentially  on  the  axioms  I  had  previously  present 
ed,  and  invited  the  attention  of  Congress  to  it  by  the  card  that  follows. 

The  great  objects  at  which  I  aimed  were,  first,  to  place  the  state  gov 
ernments  in  the  hands  of  those  loyal  men  who  alone  are  entitled  to  hold 
them,  and  thereby  insure  loyalty  a  foothold  every  where  ;  second,  to  close 
the  breach  as  nearly  as  possible  between  the  President  and  Congress ; 
third,  to  relieve  the  country  of  that  accursed  incubus  of  selfish,  corrupt, 


APPENDIX.  385 

and  abandoned  politicians  of  both  the  old  parties  that  have  always  been 
found  ready  to  sacrifice  the  country  to  help  themselves,  but  never  to  sac 
rifice  themselves  to  help  the  country,  not  so  much  for  their  punishment,  as 
for  the  peace,  harmony,  security,  and  welfare  of  the  country — although  I 
know  the  loss  of  political  power  is  to  them  the  severest  infliction  that 
could  be  imposed,  next  to  the  loss  of  life ;  for,  as  to  property,  few  of  the 
most  rabid  have  any  thing  to  lose.  If  the  masses  should  in  the  end  be 
treated  unkindly,  let  them  thank  these  leaders  for  it,  and  then  thank  them 
selves  for  supporting,  instead  of  rebuking  them  for  their  folly  and  bold 
defiance. 

"  Astor  House,  May  12, 1866. 
"  To  the  Members  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  representatives  of  the  United  States: 

"  GENTLEMEN, — I  feel  that  if  any  one  in  private  life  has  a  right,  without 
presumption,  to  address  the  loyal  representative  men  of  this  nation  upon 
a  subject  we  are  all  alike  interested  in,  that  I  might  venture  to  do  so 
without  offense,  and  without  rendering  myself  obnoxious  to  the  charge 
of  vanity. 

"I  have  no  personal  favors  to  ask  at  the  hands  of  any  one.  I  have  no 
'axe  to  grind.'  I  am  a  candidate  or  applicant  for  no  office.  I  desire 
no  preferment.  I  belong  to  no  political  organization.  I  am  entirely 
free  to  throw  the  weight  of  any  little  influence  I  may  be  able  to  command 
in  favor  of  such  men  and  such  measures  as  my  judgment  my  approve, 
and  against  such  as  that  judgment  may  condemn.  I  can  therefore  afford 
to  be  honest,  to  be  truthful,  independent,  and  patriotic,  and  I  may  be  ex 
cused  for  saying  that  I  occupy  a  stand-point  I  think  free  from  all  preju 
dice  and  passion,  which  are  too  apt  to  have  their  influence,  and  to  control 
the  action  of  those  who  are  surrounded  by  a  constantly  overheated  po 
litical  atmosphere.  But  while  I  belong  to  no  political  organization,  my 
sympathies,  affinities,  and  co-operation  are,  as  they  always  have  been, 
entirely  with  the  unconditional  Union  men  of  the  countiy. 

11  May  I  therefore  be  permitted  to  ask  your  calm  and  deliberate  attention 
to  the  views  presented  below.  The  difficulty  of  seeing  and  conversing 
with  each  member  in  private  is  my  reason  for  adopting  this  public  mode 
of  communication. 

' '  Twelve  years  ago  I  addressed  myself,  as  now,  from  this  house  to  Con 
gress  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  the  bitter  fruits  of 
which  we  are  now  all  tasting.  I  hope  this  will  not  pass  unheeded,  as  did 
my  urgent  entreaties  then.  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"JOHN  M.  BOTTS." 


386  APPENDIX. 

Objections  to  the  Report  of  the  Reconstruction  Committee. 

1st.  It  makes  no  provision  for  the  relief  of  the  Union  white  men  of  the 
South,  but  leaves  them  and  the  state  governments  in  the  hands  of  the  un 
reconstructed  rebels  for  the  next  four  years,  who  will  improve  the  oppor 
tunity  to  educate  the  people  without  restraint  to  a  more  embittered  spirit 
of  disaffection  and  disloyalty  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and 
in  four  years  we  shall  hardly  have  a  loyal  man  left  in  the  South ;  self- 
preservation  will  drive  them  into  the  ranks  of  the  other  party,  and  the 
Southern  States  will  constitute  an  element  of  weakness  rather  than  of 
strength  to  the  government. 

2d.  The  disfranchisement  proposed  is  made  to  depend  upon  the  grade 
of  office  held,  instead  of  the  grade  of  offense  committed,  and  is  limited  to 
the  higher  classes  of  officers,  civil  and  military,  the  latter  including  all 
over  the  rank  of  colonel,  leaving  all  the  guerrilla  chiefs  and  their  subor 
dinate  officers,  to  say  nothing  of  privates  —  all  of  whom  would  have  been 
generals  if  they  could,  many  of  whom  too  committed  the  greatest  atroci 
ties  of  the  war — free  hereafter  to  participate  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
It  also  leaves  those  who  voted  in  convention  for  ordinances  of  secession — 
which  was  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  United  States,  and  in  the  ab 
sence  of  which  there  would  have  been  no  rebellion — likewise  free.  It  im 
poses  no  disqualification  upon  those  mischievous  politicians  who  for  thirty 
years  have  been  stirring  up  disaffection  and  rebellion  among  the  people. 
Nor  does  it  in  any  degree  affect  the  sympathizers  with  and  co-operators 
in  the  rebellion  in  the  Northern  States,  who  are,  if  possible,  more  guilty 
and  more  obnoxious  than  those  in  the  South. 

3d.  The  bill  proposed  can  not  receive  the  President's  sanction,  nor  is 
the  Constitutional  Amendment  at  all  likely  to  receive  the  approval  of  the 
necessary  number  of  state  Legislatures. 

4th.  It  is  extremely  improbable  that  any  Southern  state  will  adopt  the 
conditions  prescribed,  and  four  years  hence  we  shall  be  as  far  from  recon 
struction  as  we  are  now. 

I  suggest,  therefore,  that  all  these  difficulties  may  be  remedied  by  a 
simple  legislative  enactment,  which  might  probably  receive  the  President's 
assent,  and,  if  not,  might  be  carried  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both  houses. 
I  propose,  then,  in  substitution  for  the  report  of  the  committee,  that  it 
shall  be  declared  by  law, 

That  no  person  hereafter  shall  be  capable  of  holding  any  office,  legisla 
tive,  executive,  or  judicial,  in  the  Federal  or  state  governments,  for  ten 


APPENDIX.  387 

years  from  the  passage  of  the  act,  who  was  over  the  age  of  twenty-five  at 
the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  without  taking  the  following  oath  in 
addition  to  that  now  required  of  all  such  officers  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States : 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  have  not,  since  the  twentieth  day 
of  December,  1860  (the  date  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  of  South  Car 
olina),  voluntarily  taken  up  arms  against  the  United  States,  nor  have  I  ad 
vised  or  encouraged  others  to  do  so ;  that  I  have  not  sought  or  held  of 
fice  under  the  Confederate  States  government,  or  of  that  of  any  state  in 
rebellion,  with  a  view  in  any  manner  to  aid  the  rebellion ;  that  I  have 
not  said,  written,  or  done  any  thing  designed,  or  of  a  nature  calculated  to 
alienate  the  affections  or  allegiance  of  the  people  from  the  government  of 
the  United  States ;  nor  have  I  otherwise  given  aid  and  comfort  to  the  re 
bellion." 

Let  this  enactment  be  accompanied  with  an  absolute  remission  in  all 
cases  of  the  forfeiture  of  life,  liberty,  and  property,  for  the  crimes  com 
mitted  by  and  under  the  authority  of  those  in  rebellion ;  and  let  it  also 
be  declared  that  if  it  shall  be  ascertained  that  any  person  has  sworn  false 
ly  to  obtain  or  hold  any  office  hereby  prohibited,  such  office  shall  be  ab 
solutely  vacated,  and  the  party  held  liable  to  a  prosecution  for  perjury. 

If  this  plan  should  be  adopted,  every  loyal  citizen  would  be  subjected 
to  the  test  prescribed  before  he  could  hold  a  legislative,  executive,  or  judi 
cial  office,  while  those  of  thirty  and  under  who  had  borne  arms  against 
the  country  would  be  relieved  of  such  obligations.  It  would  be  mani 
festly  proper,  therefore,  that  an  oath  should  be  provided  for  them  which 
would  have  only  a  prospective  operation,  and  I  suggest  the  following : 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  recognize  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  all  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  as  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land,  and  that  I  am  bound  thereby,  any  state  law,  Constitution, 
or  ordinance,  or  convention  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding ;  and  that  I 
regard  all  laws  of  the  United  States  as  binding  on  the  citizens  thereof, 
until  declared  unconstitutional  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
That  I  regard  the  first  obligation  of  allegiance  of  the  citizen  as  due  to 
the  United  States,  and  not  to  any  component  part  thereof;  and  I  will 
hereafter  observe  and  obey  the  laws,  and  protect  the  flag  of  my  country 
when  lawfully  called  upon  to  do  so." 

This  would  be  what  Mr.  Johnson  would  call  an  "  intelligent  treason," 
not  holding  to  responsibility  the  boys  and  young  men,  who  were  misled 
and  dragged  in  by  older,  more  experienced,  and  more  wicked  men,  nor 


388  APPENDIX. 

those  who  were  forced  in  by  conscription,  and  would  leave  all  now  thirty 
years  of  age  and  under  to  fill  the  offices,  state  and  Federal,  who,  with  the 
Union  men,  would  constitute  a  majority  of  the  whole  in  most  if  not  all 
of  the  states ;  and  the  regenerated  under  thirty-one  would  naturally  at 
tach  themselves  to  the  government  that  had  thus  restored  them,  and  aid 
in  circulating  a  spirit  of  loyalty  throughout  the  South,  and  their  numbers 
would  daily  increase,  while  the  other  party  would  decline  in  a  still  great 
er  ratio. 

Twelve  months  ago  every  rebel  in  the  South  would  have  rejoiced  at  the 
proffer  of  such  terms.  It  is  due  to  the  nation — due  to  posterity  and  man 
kind — that  some  penalty  should  be  visited  on  those  who  were  wickedly 
guilty,  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  offense  at  a  future  day.  Now  is  the 
time  to  establish  a  precedent,  and  so  mild  a  penalty  was  never  before  ex 
acted  for  so  grave  a  crime  —  complete  restoration  and  amnesty,  only 
withholding  for  ten  years  political  power  from  those  who  had  voluntarily 
and  treacherously  surrendered  and  abandoned  it.  Upon  the  passage  of 
this  law  reconstruction  would  be  absolute  and  immediate,  upon  a  basis  of 
unquestioned  loyalty ;  the  state  governments  would  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  loyal  men ;  the  chief  cause  of  dissension  between  the  President  and 
Congress  would  be  withdrawn  ;  harmony  in  the  public  councils  would  be 
restored ;  the  more  guilty  would  be  mildly  punished,  and  the  balance  re 
lieved  of  responsibility ;  and  not  the  least  of  the  advantages  of  this  mode 
of  settlement  would  be  that  it  withdraws  the  question  of  reconstruction 
from  the  next  election.  If  the  President  should  sanction  it,  and  Congress 
reject  it,  it  would  indicate  that  they  had  some  ulterior  object  in  view,  and 
a  disposition  to  delay  unreasonably  a  restoration  upon  a  loyal  basis,  which 
would  severely  damage  the  Union  party ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
Congress  should  adopt  it,  and  the  President  reject  it,  it  would  strongly  in 
dicate  on  his  part  a  desire  to  restore  to  power  those  elements  of  disloyalty 
North  and  South  which  have  brought  such  desolation  and  ruin  upon  the 
country,  of  which  many  now  (but  I  do  not)  suspect  him. 

MR.  LINCOLN  AND   HIS   POLICY. 

So  much  injustice  has  been  done  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and 
such  unfair  and  unfounded  representations  made  in  regard  to  the  respons 
ibility  for  the  late  rebellion— especially  made  in  a  work  that  has  lately, 
and  for  the  first  time,  fallen  under  my  observation,  called  "  The  Demo 
cratic  Almanac,"  published  in  the  city  of  New  York,  for  the  year  186G,  I 
presume  for  Southern  consumption — that  I  should  feel  my  task  incom- 


APPENDIX.  389 

plete  if  I  did  not  add  a  brief  synopsis  of  the  course  of  policy  pursued  by 
Mr.  Lincoln,  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  my  Southern  readers,  who,  by  the 
events  of  the  war  and  the  necessary  interruption  of  communication  be 
tween  the  two  sections,  were  cut  off  from  all  knowledge  of  what  was  trans 
piring  in  Washington,  and  were  limited  in  their  reading  to  the  complex 
ion  given  to  all  things  as  they  found  it  in  the  Southern  press,  which,  for 
the  most  part,  studiously  suppressed  the  publication  of  whatever  might 
contribute  to  a  more  favorable  feeling  toward  those  whom  they  had  been 
taught  to  believe  were  their  persecutors  and  oppressors,  and  substituted  for 
it  such  imaginary  pictures  as  ingenuity  could  devise  to  fire  the  Southern 
heart,  frenzy  the  Southern  mind,  and  whet  the  appetite  for  blood. 

In  the  performance  of  this  task,  I  begin  with  what  is  already  to  be 
found  in  the  body  of  this  work,  to  wit,  the  platform  adopted  by  the  Re 
publican  party  in  1860  at  the  Chicago  Convention,  which  nominated  Mr. 
Lincoln.  On  the  question  of  slavery  it  reads,  "That  the  maintenance 
inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the  states,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  state 
to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions  according  to  its  own 
judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power  on  which  the 
perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  depends;  and  we  de 
nounce  the  lawless  invasion  by  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  state  or  ter 
ritory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes." 

This  declaration  of  principles — so  much  misrepresented  in  1860,  '61, 
throughout  the  South — of  itself  effectually  disposes  of  the  charge  in  the 
aforesaid  "Democratic  Almanac,"  to  be  found  on  p.  17  of  said  book,  which 
declares  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  as  the  representative  of  a  party 
which  had  resolved  that  "slavery  must  be  abolished,  if  not  by  the/ear  of 
the  sivord,  then  by  the  sword  itself;  and  again,  that  the  "Republican 
party"  had  declared,  "Against  slaveholders  as  a  body  we  wage  an  ex 
terminating  war."  "  If  the  negroes  had  a  chance,  they  would  be  delight 
ed  to  cut  their  masters'  throats."  "  Slaveholders,  it  is  for  you  to  determ 
ine  whether  we  are  to  have  justice  (t.  e.,  emancipation) peaceably  or  by  vio 
lence;  for  whatever  consequences  may  follow,  we  are  determined  to  have 
it,  one  way  or  another" 

Next,  as  to  Mr.  Lincoln  himself.  This  article  in  the  "Democratic  Alma 
nac"  seems  to  have  been  written  for  the  purpose  of  again  "firing  the  Southern 
heart,"  of  which  folly  we  have  had  quite  enough  already,  and  of  keeping  a 
party  in  alliance  with  treason,  by  operating  upon  the  ignorant  and  unin 
formed.  It  contains  so  much  trashy  nonsense  that  is  known  to  its  Northern 
readers  to  be  utterly  false  and  unfounded,  that  I  instinctively  shrink  from 


390  APPENDIX. 

giving  it  importance  by  taking  any  notice  of  it ;  but  the  South,  being  en 
gaged  in  war  during  the  whole  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  and  thus 
cut  off  from  all  intercourse  with  the  North,  are  liable  to  be  misled ;  and  I 
have  therefore  thought  it  best  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  pol 
icy  and  action  on  this  subject  from  first  to  last,  and  to  show  that  Southern 
secessionists  imposed  upon  him  the  necessity  of  emancipation,  to  save,  as 
he  thought,  the  life  of  the  nation ;  and  before  he  resorted  to  this  extreme 
measure,  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  induce  Southern  slaveholders  to  ac 
cept  a  fair  compensation  for  slavery,  which  was  indignantly  rejected. 

I  start,  then,  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  in 
which  he  said,  "Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  that,  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican  administration, 
their  property,  peace,  and  personal  security  are  to  be  endangered ,  There 
has  never  been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the 
most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and  been 
open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  published  speeches 
of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches 
when  I  declare  that  I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  exists.  I  believe  I 
have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so.  Those 
who  nominated  and  elected  me  did  so  with  the  full  knowledge  that  I  had 
made  this  and  many  similar  declarations,  and  had  never  recanted  them. 
And  more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the  platform  for  my  acceptance,  and 
as  a  law  to  themselves  and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution 
which  I  now  read : 

"  '  Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the  states, 
and  especially  the  right  of  each  state  to  order  and  control  its  own  domes 
tic  institutions  according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to 
the  balance  of  power  on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  polit 
ical  fabric  depends ;  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion  by  armed  force 
of  the  soil  of  any  state  or  territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as 
among  the  gravest  of  crimes. ' 

"  I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments,  and,  in  doing  so,  I  only  press  upon 
the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  which  flie  case  is  sus 
ceptible,  that  the  property,  peace,  and  security  of  no  section  are  to  be  in 
any  wise  endangered  by  the  now  incoming  administration.  I  add,  too, 
that  all  the  protection  which,  consistently  with  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  can  be  given,  will  be  cheerfully  given  to  the  states  when  lawfully  de 
manded,  for  whatever  cause,  as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  another. 


APPENDIX.  391 

"There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up  of  fugitives  from 
service  or  labor.  The  clause  I  now  read  is  as  plainly  written  in  the  Con 
stitution  as  any  other  of  its  provisions  : 

"'No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  state  under  the  laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regu 
lation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  de 
livered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be 
due.' 

"  It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  intended  by  those 
who  made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what  we  call  fugitive  slaves  ;  and  the 
intention  of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law.  All  members  of  Congress  swear 
their  support  to  the  whole  Constitution — to  this  provision  as  much  as  any 
other.  To  the  proposition,  then,  that  slaves  whose  cases  come  within  the 
terms  of  this  clause  'shall  be  delivered  up,'  their  oaths  are  unanimous. 
Now  if  they  would  make  the  effort  in  good  temper,  could  they  not,  with 
nearly  equal  unanimity,  frame  and  pass  a  law  by  means  of  which  to  keep 

good  that  unanimous  oath  ? 

t*********** 

"I  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with  no  mental  reservations,  and  with  no 
purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or  laws  by  any  hypercritical  rules. 
And  while  I  do  not  choose  now  to  specify  particular  acts  of  Congress  as 
proper  to  be  enforced,  I  do  suggest  that  it  will  be  much  safer  for  all,  both 
in  official  and  private  stations,  to  conform  to,  and  abide  by,  all  those  acts 
which  stand  unrepealed,  than  to  violate  any  of  them,  trusting  to  find  im 
punity  in  having  them  held  to  be  unconstitutional." 

On  the  13th  of  April,  1861,  a  committee,  consisting  of  Wm.  Ballard 
Preston,  a  quasi-Union  man,  who  soon  gave  way  in  the  convention — A. 
H.  H.  Stuart — a  professed  Union  man,  who  ultimately  voted  at  the  polls 
for  secession,  and  urged  the  people  to  do  the  same — and  George  W.  Ran 
dolph,  an  original  and  extreme  secessionist,  waited  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
inquire  "  what  policy  the  Federal  Executive  intended  to  pursue  toward 
the  Confederate  States?"  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  more  courtesy  and 
forbearance  than  they  would  have  received  from  "Old  Hickory,"  replied 
as  follows : 

"  In  answer,  I  have  to  say  that,  having  at  the  beginning  of  my  official 
term  expressed  my  intended  policy  as  plainly  as  I  was  able,  it  is  with 
deep  regret,  and  some  mortification,  I  now  learn  that  there  is  great  and  in 
jurious  uncertainty  in  the  public  mind  as  to  what  that  policy  is,  and  what 
course  I  intend  to  pursue. 


392  APPENDIX. 

"Not  having  as  yet  seen  occasion  to  change,  it  is  now  my  purpose  to 
pursue  the  course  marked  out  in  the  Inaugural  Address.  I  commend  a 
careful  consideration  of  the  whole  document,  as  the  best  expression  I  can 
give  of  my  purposes.  As  I  then  and  therein  said,  I  now  repeat : 

"  'The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess 
the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  government,  and  to  collect  the 
duties  and  imposts ;  but  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  these  objects  there 
will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people  any 
where.' 

"By  the  words  'property  and  places  belonging  to  the  government,'  I 
chiefly  allude  to  the  military  posts  and  property  which  were  in  the  posses 
sion  of  the  government  when  it  came  to  my  hands. 

"But  if,  as  now  appears  to  be  true,  in  pursuit  of  a  purpose  to  drive  the 
United  States  authority  from  these  places,  an  unprovoked  assault  has  been 
made  upon  Fort  Sumter,  I  shall  hold  myself  at  liberty  to  repossess,  if  I 
can,  like  places  which  had  been  seized  before  the  government  was  devolved 
upon  me.  And  in  any  event  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  repel  force 
by  force. 

"In  case  it  proves  true  that  Fort  Sumter  has  been  assaulted,  as  it  is 
reported,  I  shall  perhaps  cause  the  United  States  mails  to  be  withdrawn 
from  all  the  states  which  claim  to  have  seceded,  believing  that  the  com 
mencement  of  actual  war  against  the  United  States  justifies  and  possibly 
demands  it. 

"  I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  I  consider  the  military  posts  and  property 
situated  within  the  states  which  claim  to  have  seceded  as  yet  belonging  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States  as  much  as  they  did  before  the  sup 
posed  secession. 

"Whatever  else  I  may  do  for  the  purpose,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  col 
lect  the  duties  and  imposts  by  any  armed  invasion  of  any  part  of  the 
country ;  not  meaning  by  this,  however,  that  I  may  not  land  a  force 
deemed  necessary  to  relieve  a  fort  upon  the  border  of  the  country. 

"From  the  fact  that  I  have  quoted  a  part  of  the  Inaugural  Address,  it 
must  not  be  inferred  that  I  repudiate  any  other  part ;  the  whole  of  which 
I  reaffirm,  except  so  far  as  what  I  now  say  of  the  mails  may  be  regarded 
as  a  modification." 

Unless  this  committee  and  the  Convention  intended  to  require  Mr. 
Lincoln,  like  a  perjured  coward,  basely  and  perfidiously  to  surrender  the 
forts,  arsenals,  arms,  ammunition,  revenue  cutters,  mints,  custom-houses, 
post-offices,  and  other  property  that  had  by  violence,  and  without  shadow 


APPENDIX.  393 

of  authority,  been  taken  from  the  government  over  which  he  had  been 
elected  to  preside,  what  farther  guarantee  could  have  been  asked  for  than 
was  here  given?  But,  instead  of  its  being  received  with  satisfaction  and 
gratification  by  these  two  pliant  and  flexible  Union  men,  who  were  sent 
in  company  with  another,  of  superior  intellect,  and  of  far  more  will  and 
courage  than  either,  they  united  with  the  secession  leader  in  loud  com 
plaints  and  bitter  denunciation  of  Mr.  Lincoln  for  daring  to  threaten,  in 
the  face  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  to  attempt  to  get  back  the  stolen 
property  of  the  United  States. 

The  effect  produced  by  such  a  report  as  they  made  on  their  return  to 
the  body  of  the  Convention  upon  facile  Union  men,  who  had  been  more 
accustomed  to  follow  than  to  lead,  may  well  be  conjectured.  It  was  at  a 
time,  too,  of  great  excitement.  The  Convention  had  given  its  pledge  to 
South  Carolina,  through  Mr.  Pryor,  that  Virginia  would  come  to  her  aid 
on  the  firing  of  the  first  gun ;  the  Confederate  batteries  were  then  play 
ing  upon  the  walls  of  Sumter;  Anderson  was  making  &  feeble  or  no  de 
fense  ;  the  fall  of  the  fort  was  a  certainty ;  for  upon  a  demand  from  Beau- 
regard  upon  Anderson  to  surrender,  he  had  already  informed  the  enemy 
he  could  only  hold  out  a  few  days  for  the  want  of  bread,  and,  if  he  would 
wait,  the  fort  would  be  evacuated  by  noon  on  the  I5lh,  only  two  days  from 
the  date  of  this  interview.  On  the  evening  of  the  13th  Anderson  struck 
his  flag  to  South  Carolina,  South  Carolina  having  done  in  three  days 
what  the  combined  military  and  naval  power  of  the  United  States  could 
not  undo  in  four  years.  It  might  be  curious  to  inquire  how  many  shell 
were  thrown  from  Sumter  in  this  three  days'  terrific  cannonading,  which 
terminated  in  the  lowering  of  the  flag  of  the  United  States  to  "KING 
COTTON,"  and  nobody  hurt  on  either  side. 

But  to  proceed :  on  the  6th  of  March,  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  the  fol 
lowing  message  to  Congress : 

11  Fellow-citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives : 

"I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution  by  your  honorable 
bodies,  which  shall  be  substantially  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  state 
which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giving  to  such  state  pe 
cuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  state  in  its  discretion  to  compensate  for 
the  inconveniences,  public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of  sys 
tem." 

On  the  10th  of  March,  Mr.  Conkling,  of  New  York,  under  a  suspension 
of  the  rules,  introduced  this  as  a  joint  resolution,  and  it  was  carried  by 

R2 


394  APPENDIX. 

yeas  and  nays:  yeas,  97;  nays,  36  ;  Southern  members  principally  voting 
against  it. 

The  same  resolution  was  passed  in  the  Senate  on  the  2d  of  April :  yeas, 
32 ;  nays,  10. 

Yeas — Messrs.  Morrill  and  Fessenden,  of  Maine-,  Clark  and  Hale,  of 
New  Hampshire ;  Foot  and  Collamer,  of  Vermont ;  Wilson  and  Sumner, 
of  Massachusetts-,  Anthony,  of  Rhode  Island ;  Dixon  and  Foster,  of  Con 
necticut  ;  Ten  Eyck,  of  New  Jersey  ;  Davis,  of  Kentucky  ;  Sherman  and 
Wade,  of  Ohio ;  Lane,  of  Indiana ;  Trumbull,  of  Illinois ;  Chandler,  of 
Michigan ;  Harlan  and  Grimes,  of  Iowa ;  Doolittle  and  Howe,  of  Wis 
consin  ;  Wilkinson,  of  Minnesota ;  Pomeroy  and  Lane,  of  Kansas  ;  Hen 
derson,  of  Missouri ;  Willey,  of  West  Virginia ;  Wilmot,  of  Pennsylva 
nia  ;  King,  of  New  York ;  Thomson,  of  New  Jersey ;  and  Browning,  of 
Illinois. 

Nays — Bayard  and  Saulsbury,  of  Delaware;  Carlisle,  of  West  Vir 
ginia;  Kennedy,  of  Maryland;  Latham,  of  California;  Nesmith  and 
Stark,  of  Oregon ;  Powell,  of  Kentucky :  Wilson,  of  Missouri ;  and 
Wright,  of  New  Jersey. 

Upon  this  proposition  Mr.  Lincoln  invited  a  conference  with  some  of 
the  more  prominent  members  of  the  Southern  States,  the  result  of  which 
is  given  below  by  the  Hon.  J.  W.  Crisfield,  senator  from  Maryland. 

The  following  is  a  memorandum  of  an  interview  between  the  President 
and  some  border  slave  state  representatives,  March  10, 1862,  by  the  Hon. 
J.W.  Crisfield. 

"After  the  usual  salutations,  and  we  were  seated,  the  President  said, 
in  substance,  that  he  had  invited  us  to  meet  him  to  have  some  conversa 
tion  with  us  in  explanation  of  his  Message  of  the  6th.  That  since  he  had 
sent  it  in  several  of  the  gentlemen  then  present  had  visited  him,  but  had 
avoided  any  allusion  to  the  Message,  and  he  therefore  inferred  that  the 
import  of  the  Message  had  been  misunderstood,  and  was  regarded  as  in 
imical  to  the  interests  we  represented ;  and  he  had  resolved  he  would 
talk  with  us,  and  disabuse  our  minds  of  that  erroneous  opinion. 

"The  President  then  disclaimed  any  intent  to  injure  the  interests  or 
wound  the  sensibilities  of  the  Slave  States.  On  the  contrary,  his  purpose 
was  to  protect  the  one  and  respect  the  other ;  that  we  were  engaged  in  a 
terrible,  wasting,  and  tedious  war ;  immense  armies  were  in  the  field,  and 
must  continue  in  the  field  as  long  as  the  war  lasts ;  that  these  armies 
must  of  necessity  be  brought  into  contact  with  slaves  in  the  states  we 
represented,  and  in  other  states  as  they  advanced ;  that  slaves  would 


APPENDIX.  395 

come  to  the  camps,  and  continual  irritation  be  kept  up ;  that  he  was  con 
stantly  annoyed  by  conflicting  and  antagonistic  complaints.  On  the  one 
side,  a  certain  class  complained  if  the  slave  was  not  protected  by  the 
army,  persons  were  frequently  found  who,  participating  in  these  views, 
acted  in  a  way  unffiendly  to  the  slaveholder ;  on  the  other  hand,  slave 
holders  complained  that  their  rights  were  interfered  with,  their  slaves  in 
duced  to  abscond,  and  protected  within  the  lines ;  these  complaints  were 
numerous,  loud,  and  deep ;  were  a  serious  annoyance  to  him,  and  embar 
rassing  to  the  progress  of  the  war ;  that  it  kept  alive  a  spirit  hostile  to 
the  government  in  the  states  we  represented ;  strengthened  the  hopes  of 
the  Confederates  that  at  some  day  the  Border  States  would  unite  with 
them,  and  thus  tend  to  prolong  the  war ;  and  he  was  of  opinion,  if  this 
resolution  should  be  adopted  by  Congress  and  accepted  by  our  states, 
these  causes  of  irritation  and  these  hopes  be  removed,  more  would  be 
accomplished  toward  shortening  the  war  than  could  be  hoped  from  the 
greatest  victory  achieved  by  Union  armies ;  that  he  made  this  proposition 
in  good  faith,  and  desired  it  to  be  accepted,  if  at  all,  voluntarily,  and  in 
the  same  patriotic  spirit  in  which  it  was  made ;  that  emancipation  was  a 
subject  exclusively  under  the  control  of  the  states,  and  must  be  adopted 
or  rejected  by  each  for  itself;  that  he  did  not  claim,  nor  had  this  govern 
ment  any  right  to  coerce  them  for  that  purpose ;  that  such  was  no  part 
of  his  purpose  in  making  this  proposition,  and  he  wished  it  to  be  clearly 
understood ;  that  he  did  not  expect  us  there  to  be  prepared  to  give  him 
an  answer,  but  he  hoped  we  would  take  the  subject  into  serious  considera 
tion,  confer  with  one  another,  and  then  take  such  course  as  we  felt  our 
duty  and  the  interests  of  our  constituents  required  of  us. 

*         *         *         *         *         *         **         *         *         * 

"He  thought  the  institution  wrong,  and  ought  never  to  have  existed; 
but  yet  he  recognized  the  rights  of  property  which  had  grown  out  of  it, 
and  would  respect  those  rights  as  fully  as  similar  rights  in  any  other 
property ;  that  property  can  exist,  and  does  legally  exist.  He  thought 
such  a  law  wrong,  but  the  rights  of  property  resulting  must  be  respected ; 
he  would  get  rid  of  the  odious  law,  not  by  violating  the  right,  but  by  en 
couraging  the  proposition  and  offering  inducements  to  give  it  up." 

Here  the  interview  ended  by  Mr.  Crittenden's  assuring  the  President 
that,  whatever  might  be  our  final  action,  we  all  thought  him  solely  moved 
by  a  high  patriotism  and  sincere  devotion  to  the  happiness  and  glory  of 
his  country ;  and  with  that  conviction  we  should  consider  respectfully  the 
important  suggestions  he  had  made. 


396  APPENDIX. 

The  correctness  of  this  report  made  by  Mr.  Crisfield  is  certified  to  by 
J.  W.  Menzies,  J.  J.  Crittenden,  and  R.  Mallory,  all  of  Kentucky. 

Did  this  look  like  a  war  upon  the  institutions  of  the  South,  either  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Lincoln  or  Congress,  by  the  sword,  or  does  it  exhibit  a  desire 
to  remove  the  chief  obstacle  to  harmony  by  a  fair  and  just  equivalent  ? 

In  July,  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  invited  an  interview  with  the  members  of 
Congress  from  the  Border  Slave  States,  which  was  held.  During  the  in 
terview  Mr.  Lincoln  addressed  an  earnest  and  patriotic  appeal  to  these 
gentlemen,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said,  "You  prefer  that  the  consti 
tutional  relations  of  the  states  to  the  nation  shall  be  practically  restored 
without  disturbance  of  the  institution  ;  and  if  this  were  done,  my  whole 
duty  in  this  respect,  under  the  Constitution  and  my  oath  of  office,  would 
be  performed.  But  it  is  not  done,  and  we  are  trying  to  accomplish  it  by 
war.  The  incidents  of  the  war  can  not  be  avoided.  If  the  war  continues 
long,  as  it  must  if  the  object  be  not  sooner  attained,  the  institution  in  your 
states  will  be  extinguished  by  mere  friction  and  abrasion — by  the  mere 
incidents  of  the  war.  It  will  be  gone,  and  you  will  have  nothing  valuable 
in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value  is  gone  already.  How  much  better  for 
you  and  for  your  people  to  take  the  step  which  at  once  shortens  the  war 
and  secures  substantial  compensation  for  that  which  is  sure  to  be  wholly 
lost  in  any  other  event !  How  much  better  to  thus  save  the  money  which 
else  we  sink  forever  in  the  war !  How  much  better  to  do  it  while  we 
can,  lest  the  war  ere  long  render  us  pecuniarily  unable  to  do  it !  How 
much  better  for  you  as  seller,  and  the  nation  as  buyer,  to  sell  out  and  buy 
out  that  without  which  the  war  could  never  have  been,  than  to  sink  both 
the  thing  to  be  sold  and  the  price  of  it  in  cutting  one  another's  throats ! 

"I  do  not  speak  of  emancipation  at  once,  but  of  a  decision  at  once  to 
emancipate  gradually.  Room  in  South  America  for  colonization  can  be 
obtained  cheaply  and  in  abundance,  and  when  numbers  shall  be  large 
enough  to  be  company  and  encouragement  for  one  another,  the  freed 
people  will  not  be  so  reluctant  to  go. 

"I  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty  not  yet  mentioned,  one  which  threatens 
division  among  those  who,  united,  are  none  too  strong.  An  instance  of  it  is 
known  to  you.  General  Hunter  is  an  honest  man.  He  was,  and,  I  hope, 
still  is  my  friend.  I  valued  him  none  the  less  for  his  agreeing  with  me 
in  the  general  wish  that  all  men  every  where  could  be  freed.  He  pro 
claimed  all  men  free  within  certain  states,  and  I  repudiated  the  proclama 
tion.  He  expected  more  good  and  less  harm  from  the  measure  than  I 
could  believe  would  follow.  Yet,  in  repudiating  it,  I  gave  dissatisfaction 


APPENDIX.  397 

if  not  offense  to  many  whose  support  the  country  can  not  afford  to  lose. 
And  this  is  not  the  end  of  it.  The  pressure  in  this  direction  is  still  upon 
me,  and  is  increasing.  By  conceding  what  I  now  ask,  you  can  relieve 
me,  and  much  more,  can  relieve  the  country  in  this  important  point. 

"Upon  these  considerations  I  have  again  begged  your  attention  to  the 
Message  of  March  last.  Before  leaving  the  Capitol,  consider  and  discuss 
it  among  yourselves.  You  are  patriots  and  statesmen,  and  as  such  I  pray 
you  consider  this  proposition,  and  at  the  least  commend  it  to  the  consid 
eration  of  your  states  and  people.  As  you  would  perpetuate  popular 
government  for  the  best  people  in  the  world,  I  beseech  you  that  you  do  in 
nowise  omit  this.  Our  common  country  is  in  great  peril,  demanding  the 
loftiest  views  and  boldest  action  to  bring  a  speedy  relief.  Once  relieved, 
its  form  of  government  is  saved  to  the  world,  its  beloved  history  and 
cherished  memories  are  vindicated,  and  its  happy  future  fully  assured  and 
rendered  inconceivably  grand.  To  you,  more  than  to  any  others,  the 
privilege  is  given  to  assure  that  happiness  and  swell  that  grandeur,  and 
to  link  your  own  names  therewith  forever." 

In  September,  1861,  General  Fremont  issued  a  proclamation  from  St. 
Louis  containing  the  following  paragraph : 

"The  property,  real  and  personal,  of  all  persons  in  the  State  of  Mis 
souri,  who  shall  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States,  or  shall  be 
directly  proven  to  have  taken  an  active  part  with  their  enemies  in  the 
field,  is  declared  to  be  confiscated  to  the  public  use,  and  their  slaves,  if  any 
they  have,  are  hereby  declared  free  men,"  which  clause  was  instantly  re 
voked  by  Mr.  Lincoln. 

In  like  manner  General  Hunter  issued  his  proclamation  from  Hilton 
Head,  South  Carolina,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1862,  declaring  all  persons  in 
the  States  of  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina,  comprising  his  mili 
tary  department,  "heretofore  held  as  slaves,  are  forever  free." 

On  the  19th  of  May  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  another  proclamation,  revok 
ing  the  order  of  General  Hunter,  accompanied  with  a  severe  rebuke,  in 
which  he  says, 

"  On  the  6th  of  March  last,  by  a  special  Message,  I  recommended  to 
Congress  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution,  to  be  substantially  as  follows : 

"  'Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  state 
which  may  adopt  a  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giving  to  each  state 
pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  state  in  its  discretion  to  compensate  for 
the  inconveniences,  public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of  sys 
tem.'" 


398  APPENDIX. 

The  resolution,  in  the  language  above  quoted,  was  adopted  by  a  large 
majority  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  and  now  stands  an  authentic,  def 
inite,  and  solemn  proposal  of  the  nation  to  the  states  and  people  most  im 
mediately  interested  in  the  subject  matter.  To  the  people  of  those  states 
I  now  earnestly  appeal.  I  do  not  argue,  I  beseech  you  to  make  the  ar 
gument  for  yourselves.  You  can  not,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the  signs 
of  the  times.  I  beg  of  you  a  calm  and  enlarged  consideration  of  them, 
ranging,  if  it  may  be,  far  above  personal  and  partisan  politics.  This  propo 
sal  makes  common  cause  for  a  common  object,  casting  no  reproaches  upon 
any.  It  acts  not  the  Pharisee.  The  changes  it  contemplates  would  come 
gently  as  the  dews  of  Heaven,  not  rending  or  wrecking  any  thing.  "Will 
you  not  embrace  it?  So  much  good  has  not  been  done  by  one  effort 
in  all  past  time  as,  in  the  providence  of  God,  it  is  now  your  high  privi 
lege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not  have  to  lament  that  you  have  neg 
lected  it. 

Finally,  having  done  every  thing  in  his  power  for  the  protection  of 
the  property  of  the  Southern  slaveholder,  though  engagad  in  bloody  and 
flagitious  war  against  himself  and  the  government,  his  patience  and  his 
efforts  alike  exhausted  in  appeals  to  the  South  to  accept  a  system  of  re 
mote  emancipation  based  upon  fair  compensation  from  the  government, 
he  sums  up,  in  a  letter  to  Horace  Greeley,  in  a  few  energetic  sentences, 
combining  extraordinary  brevity  with  masculine  strength,  the  policy  by 
which  he  will  be  governed  in  his  ever-to-be-remembered  and  revered  de 
termination  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  and  save  the  Union  and  the  liberties  of 
his  country,  without  regard  to  cost  or  consequences ;  and,  for  one  Southern 
man  and  Southern  slaveholder,  I  say  God  bless  him  for  his  noble  and  pa 
triotic  resolution. 

Letter  to  Horace  Greeky. 

"  Executive  Mansion,  August  22, 1862. 
"  Hon.  HORACE  GEEELEY  : 

"DEAR  SIR, — I  have  just  read  yours  of  the  19th  instant,  addressed  to 
myself  through  the  New  York  Tribune. 

"  If  there  be  in  it  any  statements  or  assumptions  of  facts  which  I  may 
know  to  be  erroneous,  I  do  not  now  and  here  controvert  them. 

"  If  there  be  any  inference  which  I  may  believe  to  be  falsely  drawn,  I 
do  not  now  and  here  argue  against  them. 

"  If  there  be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial  tone,  I  waive 
it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend  whose  heart  I  have  always  supposed  to  be 
right. 


APPENDIX.  399 

"  As  to  the  policy  *  I  seem  to  be  pursuing,'  as  you  say,  I  have  not  meant 
to  leave  any  one  in  doubt.  I  would  save  the  Union ;  I  would  save  it  in 
the  shortest  way  under  the  Constitution.  The  sooner  the  national  au 
thority  can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the  Union  will  be  the  Union  as  it  was. 

"  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they  could  at 
the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them. 

"  My  paramount  object  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  not  either  to  save  or  de 
stroy  slavery. 

"If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it; 
and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it :  and  if  I 
could  save  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would  also  do 
that. 

* '  What  I  do  about  slavery  or  the  colored  race,  I  do  because  I  believe  it 
helps  to  save  the  Union ;  and  what  I  forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  do  not 
believe  it  would  help  to  save  the  Union. 

"  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I  am  doing  hurts  the 
cause,  and  shall  do  more  whenever  I  believe  doing  more  will  help  the 
cause. 

"  I  shall  try  to  correct  errors  when  shown  to  be  errors,  and  I  shall  adopt 
new  views  as  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true  views. 

"I have  here  stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  views  of  official  duty, 
and  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed  personal  wish  that  all 
men  every  where  could  be  free.  Yours,  A.  LINCOLN." 

Such  was  the  course  pursued  by  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  question  of  slavery, 
until  he  found  that  kindness  and  clemency  then,  as  it  has  done  since  the 
war,  only  begat  more  insolent  demands  and  a  more  defiant  attitude  on 
the  part  of  the  political  tricksters,  knaves,  and  charlatans  who  have  un 
dertaken  to  control  the  public  sentiment  of  the  South,  and  who,  I  am  sor 
ry  to  add,  are  in  a  great  degree  successful. 

Let  the  impartial,  enlightened,  unprejudiced  people  of  the  South,  if 
there  are  any  such  left,  ponder  over  this  brief  sketch  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  de 
sire,  so  often  and  so  anxiously  expressed,  to  protect  the  slave  property  of 
the  South,  and  then  say  how  much  reason  there  was  for  the  foul  calum 
nies  heaped  upon  him  at  the  time  of  and  after  his  election  by  designing 
and  infamous  men,  who  have  led  them  on  to  destruction,  and  determine 
for  themselves  what  reliance  is  to  be  placed  in  the  representations  of  such 
men  in  the  future. 

Will  the  great  body  of  the  people  never  come  to  their  senses  ?    Will 


400  APPENDIX. 

they  continue  to  follow  these  "bomb-proof"  men  of  war,  who  talk  like 
heroes,  who  write  like  salamanders,  until  the  war  comes  on,  and  then  do 
all  their  fighting  on  paper,  seated  on  cushioned  chairs,  by  comfortable 
fires  in  winter,  or  sucking  ice  juleps  through  glass  tubes  in  summer,  and, 
if  called  on  to  go  into  the  trenches  to  fight  the  battles  of  their  own  crea 
tion,  effeminately  and  ingloriously  dodge  behind  the  Constitution,  and 
prate  about  "an  invasion  of  the  freedom  of  the  press"  to  expect  an  editor 
to  fight,  except  on  his  own  hook  and  at  an  advantage.  Yet,  shame  to 
say,  of  such  are  the  rulers  of  the  free-born,  bearded  men  of  the  South. 

I  will  bring  this  work  to  a  close  by  giving  the  following  extract  from  a 
speech  delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  by  senator,  now  Pres 
ident  Johnson,  as  to  the  responsible  parties  for  this  war,  at  least  to  a  large 
extent.  None  of  the  reconstructed  will  take  issue  with  Mr.  Johnson  on 
this  point,  I  presume. 

Eespecting  the  vote  of  January  16  on  the  Crittenden  propositions  in 
the  Senate,  Andrew  Johnson,  senator  from  Tennessee,  in  his  speech  on 
the  expulsion  of  Jesse  D.  Bright,  senator  from  Indiana,  delivered  Janu 
ary  31,  1862,  made  these  remarks.  When  the  six  Southern  senators  re 
fused  to  vote  on  Senator  Clark's  amendment,  Senator  Johnson  said, 

"I  sat  right  behind  Mr.  Benjamin,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  my  worthy 
friend  (Mr.  Latham)  was  not  close  by  when  he  refused  to  vote,  and  I  said 
to  him,  Mr.  Benjamin,  why  do  you  not  vote?  Why  not  save  this  proposi 
tion,  and  see  if  we  can  not  bring  the  country  to  it  ?  He  gave  me  rather 
an  abrupt  answer,  and  said  he  would  control  his  own  action  without  con 
sulting  me  or  any  body  else.  Said  I,  Vote,  and  show  yourself  an  honest 
man.  As  soon  as  the  vote  was  taken,  he  and  others  telegraphed  South, 
'We  can  not  get  any  compromise.'  Here  were  six  Southern  men  refus 
ing  to  vote,  when  the  amendment  would  have  been  rejected  by  four  ma 
jority  if  they  had  voted.  Who,  then,  has  brought  these  evils  on  the 
country  ? 

"  Was  it  Mr.  Clark?  He  was  acting  out  his  own  policy  ;  but  with  the 
help  we  had  from  the  other  side  of  the  chamber,  if  all  those  on  this  side 
had  been  true  to  the  Constitution  and  faithful  to  their  constituents,  and 
had  acted  with  fidelity  to  the  country,  the  amendment  of  the  senator  from 
New  Hampshire  could  have  been  voted  down,  the  defeat  of  which,  the 
senator  from  Delaware  says,  would  have  saved  the  country.  Whose  fault 
was  it  ?  Who  is  responsible  for  it  ?  I  think  it  is  not  only  getting  the 
nail  through,  but  clinching  it  on  the  other  side,  and  the  whole  staple 
commodity  is  taken  out  of  the  speech.  Who  did  it  ?  Southern  traitors, 


APPENDIX.  401 

as  was  said  in  the  speech  of  the  senator  from  California.  They  did  it. 
They  wanted  no  compromise.  They  accomplished  their  object  by  with 
holding  their  votes ;  and  hence  the  country  has  been  involved  in  the  pres 
ent  difficulty.  Let  me  read  another  extract  from  the  speech  of  the  sena 
tor  from  California,  Mr.  Latham  : 

'"I  recollect  full  well  the  joy  that  pervaded  the  faces  of  some  of  those 
gentlemen  at  the  result,  and  the  sorrow  manifested  by  the  venerable  sena 
tor  from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Crittenden).  The  record  shows  that  Mr.  Pugh, 
from  Ohio,  despairing  of  any  compromise  between  the  extremes  of  ultra 
Eepublicanism  and  disunionists,  working  manifestly  for  the  same  end, 
moved,  immediately  after  the  vote  was  announced,  to  lay  the  whole  subject 
on  the  table.  If  you  will  turn  to  page  433,  same  volume,  you  will  find, 
when  at  a  late  period  Mr.  Cameron,  from  Pennsylvania,  moved  to  recon 
sider  the  vote,  appeals  having  been  made  to  sustain  those  who  were  strug 
gling  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  country,  that  vote  ivas  reconsidered ; 
and  when,  at  last,  the  Crittenden  propositions  were  submitted  on  the  2d 
day  of  March,  these  Southern  States  having  nearly  all  seceded,  they  were 
then  lost  by  but  one  vote.'  Here  is  the  vote : 

"Yeas — Messrs.  Bayard,  Bigler,  Bright,  Crittenden,  Douglas,  Gwin, 
Hunter,  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  Kennedy,  Lane,  Latham,  Mason,  Nichol- 
son,  Polk,  Pugh,  Eice,  Sebastian,  Thompson,  and  Wigfall — 19. 

"Nays— Messrs.  Anthony,  Bingham,  Chandler,  Clark,  Dixon,  Doo- 
liulc,  Durkee,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Foster,  Grimes,  Harlan,  King,  Morrill, 
Sumner,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Wade,  Wilkinson,  and  Wilson— 20. 

"If  these  seceded  Southern  States  had  remained,  there  would  have 
passed,  by  a  large  vote  (as  it  did  without  them),  an  amendment,  by  a 
two-third  vote,  forbidding  Congress  ever  interfering  with  slavery  in  the 
states.  The  Crittenden  proposition  would  have  been  indorsed  by  a  ma 
jority  vote,  the  subject  finally  going  before  the  people,  who  have  never 
yet,  after  consideration,  refused  justice  for  any  length  of  time  to  any  por 
tion  of  the  country. 

"I  believe  more,  Mr.  President,  that  these  gentlemen  were  acting  in 
pursuance  of  a  settled  and  fixed  plan  to  break  up  and  destroy  the  govern 
ment. 

"When  we  had  it  in  our  power  to  vote  down  the  amendment  of  the 
senator  from  New  Hampshire,  and  adopt  the  Crittenden  resolutions,  cer 
tain  Southern  senators  prevented  it ;  and  yet,  even  at  a  late  day  of  the 
session,  after  they  had  seceded,  the  Crittenden  proposition  was  only  lost 
by  one  vote.  If  rebellion,  and  bloodshed,  and  murder  have  followed,  to 


402  APPENDIX. 

whose  skirts  does  the  responsibility  attach  ?  I  summed  up  all  these  facts 
myself  in  a  speech  during  the  last  session,  but  I  have  preferred  to  read 
from  the  speech  of  the  senator  from  California,  he  being  better  authority, 
and  having  presented  the  facts  better  than  I  could." 


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1  They  do  honor  to  American  Literature,  and  would  do 
honor  to  the  Literature  of  any  Country  in  the  World." 


THE   RISE   OF 
THE    DUTCH    REPUBLIC. 


BY  JOHN  LOTHKOP  MOTLEY. 

New  Edition.    With  a  Portrait  of  WILLIAM  OF  ORANGE.    3  vols. 
Svo,  Muslin,  $9  00. 

We  regard  this  work  as  the  best  contribution  to  modern  history  that  has  yet 
been  made  by  an  American.—  Methodist  Quarterly  Review. 

The  "History  of  the  Dutch  Republic11  is  a  great  gift  to  us;  but  the  heart  and 
earnestness  that  beat  through  all  its  pages  are  greater,  for  they  give  us  most 
timely  inspiration  to  vindicate  the  true  ideas  of  our  country,  and  to  compose  an 
able  history  of  our  own.  —  Christian  Examiner  (Boston). 

This  work  bears  on  its  face  the  evidences  of  scholarship  and  research.  The 
arrangement  is  clear  and  effective  ;  the  style  energetic,  lively,  and  often  brilliant. 
*  *  *  Mr.  Motley's  instructive  volumes  will,  we  trust,  have  a  circulation  commen 
surate  with  their  interest  and  value.—  Prates  tant  Episcopal  Quarterly  Review. 

To  the  illustration  of  this  most  interesting  period  Mr.  Motley  has  brought  the 
matured  powers  of  a  vigorous  and  brilliant  mind,  and  the  abundant  fruits  of  pa 
tient  and  judicious  study  and  deep  reflection.  The  result  is,  one  of  the  most 
important  contributions  to  historical  literature  that  have  been  made  in  this  coun 
try.  —  North  American  Review. 

We  would  conclude  this  notice  by  earnestly  recommending  our  readers  to  pro 
cure  for  themselves  this  truly  great  and  admirable  work,  by  the  production  of 
which  the  author  has  conferred  no  less  honor  upon  his  country  than  he  has  won 
praise  and  fame  for  himself,  and  than  which,  we  can  assure  them,  they  can  find 
nothing  more  attractive  or  interesting  within  the  compass  of  modern  literature. 
—  Evangelical  Review. 

It  is  not  often  that  we  have  the  pleasure  of  commending  to  the  attention  of  the 
lover  of  books  a  work  of  such  extraordinary  aud  unexceptionable  excellence  as 
this  one.  —  Universalist  Quarterly  Review. 

There  are  an  elevation  and  a  classic  polish  in  these  volumes,  and  a  felicity  of 
grouping  and  of  portraiture,  which  invest  the  subject  with  the  attractions  of  a 
living  and  stirring  episode  in  the  grand  historic  drama.—  Southern  Methodist 
Quarterly  Review. 

The  author  writes  with  a  genial  glow  and  love  of  his  subject.  —  Presbyterian 
Quarterly  Review. 

Mr.  Motley  is  a  sturdy  Republican  and  a  hearty  Protestant.  His  style  is  live 
ly  and  picturesque,  and  his  work  is  an  honor  and  an  important  accession  to  our 
national  literature.  —  Church  Review. 

Mr.  Motley's  work  is  an  important  one,  the  result  of  profound  research,  sincere 
convictions,  sound  principles,  and  manly  sentiments;  and  even  those  who  are 
most  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  period  will  find  in  it  a  fresh  and  vivid  ad 
dition  to  their  previous  knowledge.  It  does  honor  to  American  literature,  and 
would  do  honor  to  the  literature  of  any  country  in  the  world.  —  Edinburgh  Re 
view. 

A  serious  chasm  in  English  historical  literature  has  been  (by  this  book)  very 
remarkably  filled.  *  *  *  A  history  as  complete  as  industry  and  genius  can  make 
it  now  lies  before  us,  of  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  revolt  of  the  United  Prov 
inces.  *  *  *  All  the  essentials  of  a  great  writer  Mr.  Motley  eminently  possesses. 
His  mind  is  broad,  his  industry  unwearied.  In  po\ver  of  dramatic  description 
no  modem  historian,  except,  perhaps,  Mr.  Carlylc,  surpasses  him,  and  in  aualy- 
sis  of  character  he  is  elaborate  and  distinct.  —  Westminster  Revieiv. 


3    MOTLEY'S  RISE  OF  THE  DUTCH  REPUBLIC. 

It  is  a  work  of  real  historical  value,  the  result  of  accurate  criticism,  written 
in  a  liberal  spirit,  and  from  first  to  last  deeply  interesting.— Athenaeum. 

The  style  is  excellent,  clear,  vivid,  eloquent;  and  the  industry  with  which 
original  sources  have  been  investigated,  and  through  which  new  light  has  been 
ehed  over  perplexed  incidents  and  characters,  entitles  Mr.  Motley  to  a  high  rank 
in  the  literature  of  an  age  peculiarly  rich  in  history. — North  British  Review. 

It  abounds  in  new  information,  and,  as  a  first  work,  commands  a  very  cordial 
recognition,  not  merely  of  the  promise  it  gives,  but  of  the  extent  and  importance 
of  the  labor  actually  performed  on  it — London  Examiner. 

Mr.  Motley's  "History"  is  a  work  of  which  any  country  might  be  proud. 

fress  (London). 

Mr.  Motley's  History  will  be  a  standard  book  of  reference  in  historical  litera 
ture. — London  Literary  Gazette. 

Mr.  Motley  has  searched  the  whole  range  of  historical  documents  necessary  to 
the  composition  of  his  work. — London  Leader. 

This  is  really  a  great  work.  It  belongs  to  the  class  of  books  in  which  we 
range  our  Grotes,  Milmans,  Merivales,  and  Macaulays,  as  the  glories  of  English 
literature  in  the  department  of  history.  *  *  *  Mr.  Motley's  gifts  as  a  historical 
writer  are  among  the  highest  and  rarest.—  Nonconformist  (London). 

Mr.  Motley's  volumes  will  well  repay  perusal.  *  »  *  For  his  learning,  his  liberal 
tone,  and  his  generous  enthusiasm,  we  heartily  commend  him,  and  bid  him  good 
speed  for  the  remainer  of  his  interesting  and  heroic  narrative.— Saturday  Review. 

The  story  is  a  noble  one,  and  is  worthily  treated.  *  *  *  Mr.  Motley  has  had  the 
patience  to  unravel,  with  unfailing  perseverance,  the  thousand  intricate  plots  of 
the  adversaries  of  the  Prince  of  Orange ;  but  the  details  and  the  literal  extracts 
which  he  has  derived  from  original  documents,  and  transferred  to  his  pages, 
give  a  truthful  color  and  a  picturesque  effect,  which  are  especially  charming.— 
London  Daily  News. 

M.  Lothrop  Motley  dans  son  magnifique  tableau  de  la  formation  de  notre  R6- 
publique.— G.  GEOEN  VAN  PEINSTEBEE. 

Our  accomplished  countryman,  Mr.  J.  Lothrop  Motley,  who,  during  the  last 
five  years,  for  the  better  prosecution  of  his  labors,  has  established  his  residence 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  scenes  of  his  narrative.  No  one  acquainted  with  the 
fine  powers  of  mind  possessed  by  this  scholar,  and  the  earnestness  with  which  he 
has  devoted  himself  to  the  task,  can  doubt  that  he  will  do  full  justice  to  his  im 
portant  but  difficult  subject. — W.  H.  PEESCOTT. 

The  production  of  such  a  work  as  this  astonishes,  while  it  gratifies  the  pride 
of  the  American  reader. — N.  Y.  Observer. 

The  "  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic"  at  once,  and  by  acclamation,  takes  its 
place  by  the  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  as  a  work  which,  wheth 
er  for  research,  substance,  or  style,  will  never  be  superseded.— N.  Y.  Albion. 

A  work  upon  which  all  who  read  the  English  language  may  congratulate 
themselves.— New  Yorker  Handels  Zeitung. 

Mr.  Motley's  place  is  now  (alluding  to  this  book)  with  ITallam  and  Lord  Ma- 
hon,  Alison  and  Macaulay  in  the  Old  Country,  and  with  Washington  Irving, 
Prescott,  and  Bancroft  in  this.  — N.  Y.  Times. 

THE  authority,  in  the  English  tongue,  for  the  history  of  the  period  and  people 
to  which  it  refers.— N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

This  work  at  once  places  the  author  on  the  list  of  American  historians  which 
has  baen  so  signally  illustrated  by  the  names  of  Irving,  Prescott,  Bancroft,  and 
Hildreth.—  Boston  Times. 

The  work  is  a  noble  one,  &nd  a  most  desirable  acquisition  to  our  historical  lit 
erature.—  Mobile  Advertiser. 

Such  a  work  is  an  honor  to  its  author,  to  his  country,  and  to  the  age  in  which 
it  was  written. — Ohio  Farmer. 

Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

Franklin  Square,  New  York. 


HAEPEB  &  BEOTHEES  will  send  the  above  Work  by  Mail  (postage  paid  (for  ! 
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paid  (for  any 


Mr.  Motley,  the  American  historian  of  the  United  Netherlands— we  owe  him 
English  homage.— LONDON  TIMES. 

".4s  interesting  as  a  romance,  and  as  reliable  as  a  proposition  of  Euclid." 


History  of 
The  United  Netherlands. 

FROM   THE  DEATH  OP   WILLIAM  THE   SILENT  TO  THE   SYNOD  OF  DORT.      WITH  A 

FULL  VIEW  OF  THE   ENGLISH-DUTCH   STRUGGLE  AGAINST    SPAIN,  AND 

OF  THE  ORIGIN  AND  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  SPANISH 

AKMADA. 

BY  JOHN  LOTHROP  MOTLEY,  LL.D.,  D.C.L., 

Corresponding  Member  of  the  Institute  of  France,  Author  of  "The  Rise  of  the 
Dutch  Republic." 

"With  Portraits  and  Map. 

2  vols.  8vo,  Muslin,  $G  00. 

Critical  Notices. 

His  living  and  truthful  picture  of  events.— Quarterly  Review  (London),  Jan., 
1861. 

Fertile  as  the  present  ag^  has  been  in  historical  works  of  the  highest  merit, 
none  of  them  can  be  ranked  above  these  volumes  in  the  grand  qualities  of  interest, 
accuracy,  and  truth, — Edinburgh  Quarterly  Review,  Jan.,  1861. 

This  noble  work Westminster  Review  (London). 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  as  well  as  important  histories  of  the  century Cor, 

N.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

The  careful  study  of  these  volumes  will  infallibly  afford  a  feast  both  rich  and 
rare. Baltint ore  Republican. 

Already  takes  a  rank  among  standard  works  of  history. — London  Critic. 

Mr.  Motley's  prose  epic. — London  Spectator. 

Its  pages  are  pregnant  with  instruction. — London  Literart/  Gazette. 

We  may  profit  by  almost  every  page  of  his  narrative.  All  the  topics  which  agi 
tate  us  now  are  more  or  less  vividly  presented  in  the  History  of  the  United  Nether 
lands Nezc  York  Times. 

Bears  on  every  page  marks  of  the  same  vigorous  mind  that  produced  "The  Rise 
of  the  Dutch  Republic;"  but  the  new  work  is  riper,  mellower,  and  though  equally 
racy  of  the  soil,  softer  flavored.  The  inspiring  idea  which  breathes  through  Mr. 
Motley's  histories  and  colors  the  whole  texture  of  his  narrative,  is  the  grandeur  of 
that  memorable  struggle  in  the  16th  century  by  which  the  human  mind  broke  the 
thraldom  of  religious  intolerance  and  achieved  its  independence — The  World,  N.  Y. 

The  name  of  Motley  now  stands  in  the  very  front  rank  of  living  historians.  Ilia 
Dutch  Republic  took  the  world  by  surprise ;  but  the  favorable  verdict  then  given 
id  now  only  the  more  deliberately  confirmed  on  the  publication  of  the  continued 
Btory  under  the  title  of  the  History  of  the  United  Netherlands.  All  the  nerve, 
and  power,  and  substance  of  juicy  life  are  there,  lending  a  charm  to  every  page. — 
Church  Journal,  ,Y.  Y. 

Motley,  indeed,  has  produced  a  prose  epic,  and  his  fighting  scenes  are  as  real, 
spirited,  and  life-like  as  the  combats  in  the  Iliad — The  Press  (Phila.). 

His  history  is  as  interesting  as  a  romance,  and  as  reliable  as  a  proposition  of  Eu 
clid.  Clio  never  had  a  more  faithful  disciple.  We  advise  every  reader  whosa 
means  will  permit  to  become  the  owner  of  these  fascinating  volumes,  assuring  him 
that  he  will  never  regret  the  investment. — Christian  Intelligencer,  N,  Y. 

Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

Franklin  Square,  New  York. 

CTT*  HARPEH  &  BROTHERS  will  send  the  above  Work  by  Mail,  postage  pro-paid 
for  any  distance  in  the  United  States  under  3000  miles),  on  receipt  of  the  Money. 


CURTIS'S    HISTORY 

OP  THE 

CONSTITUTION. 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  ORIGIN,  FORMATION,  AND  ADOP 
TION  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES.  By  GEORGE  TICKNOR  CURTIS.  Complete  in  2  vols. 
8vo,  Muslin,  $6  00. 

A  book  BO  thorough  as  this  in  the  comprehension  of  its  subject,  so  impartial 
in  the  summing  up  of  its  judgments,  so  well  considered  in  its  method,  and  so 
truthful  in  its  matter,  may  safely  challenge  the  most  exhaustive  criticism.  The 
Constitutional  History  of  our  country  has  not  before  been  made  the  subject  of  a 
special  treatise.  "VVe  may  congratulate  ourselves  that  an  author  has  been  found 
BO  capable  to  do  full  justice  to  it ;  for  that  the  work  will  take  its  rank  among  tho 
received  text-books  of  our  political  literature  will  be  questioned  by  no  one  who 
has  given  it  a  careful  perusal. — National  Intelligencer. 

We  know  of  no  person  who  is  better  qualified  (now  that  the  late  Daniel  Web- 
ster  is  no  more),  to  undertake  this  important  history.— Boston  Journal. 

It  will  take  its  place  among  the  classics  of  American  literature.— Boston  Cour 
ier. 

The  author  has  given  years  to  the  preliminary  studies,  and  nothing  has  es 
caped  him  in  the  patient  and  conscientious  researches  to  which  he  has  devoted 
eo  ample  a  portion  of  time.  Indeed,  the  work  has  been  so  thoroughly  performed 
that  it  will  never  need  to  be  done  over  again ;  for  the  sources  have  been  exhaust 
ed,  and  the  materials  put  together  with  so  much  judgment  and  artistic  skill  that 
taste  and  the  sense  of  completeness  are  entirely  satisfied.—^.  Y.  Daily  Times. 

A  most  important  and  valuable  contribution  to  the  historical  and  political  lit 
erature  of  the  United  States.  All  publicists  and  students  of  public  law  will  be 
grateful  to  Mr.  Curtis  for  the  diligence  and  assiduity  with  which  he  has  wrought 
out  the  great  mine  of  diplomatic  lore  in  which  the  foundations  of  the  American 
Constitution  are  laid,  and  for  the  light  he  has  thrown  on  his  wide  and  arduous 
subject. — London  Morning  Chronicle. 

To  trace  the  history  of  the  formation  of  the  Constitution,  and  explain  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  time  and  country  out  of  which  its  various  provisions  grew,  is  a 
task  worthy  of  the  highest  talent.  To  have  performed  that  task  in  a  satisfacto 
ry  manner  is  an  achievement  with  which  an  honorable  ambition  may  well  be 
gratified.  We  can  honestly  say  that  in  our  opinion  Mr.  Curtis  has  fairly  won 
this  distinction.— N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

We  have  seen  no  history  which  surpasses  it  in  the  essential  qualities  of  a 
standard  work  destined  to  hold  a  permanent  place  in  the  impartial  judgment  of 
future  generations. — Boston  Traveler. 

Should  the  second  volume  sustain  the  character  of  the  first,  we  hazard  nothing 
in  claiming  for  the  entire  publication  the  character  of  a  standard  work.  It  will 
furnish  the  only  sure  guide  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Constitution,  by  unfolding 
historically  the  wants  it  was  intended  to  supply,  and  the  evils  which  it  was  in 
tended  to  remedy. — Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

This  volume  is  an  important  contribution  to  our  constitutional  and  historical 
literature.  *  *  *  Every  true  friend  of  the  Constitution  will  gladly  welcome  it. 
The  author  has  presented  a  narrative  clear  and  interesting.  It  evinces  careful 
research,  skillful  handling  of  material,  lucid  statement,  and  a  desire  to  write  la 
a  tone  and  manner  worthy  of  the  great  theme. — Boston  Post. 

Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

Franldin  Square,  New  York. 


V  HAEPEB  &  BROTHERS  will  send  the  above  Work  by  Mail,  postage  paid  (for 
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